A new study by the CNR confirms that the highest concentration of microplastics is found in the western Mediterranean. The Tuscan coast is the worst affected.
Researchers have described it as a "plastic soup". And it is the Mediterranean Sea that is the worst-affected area in the world by the presence of so-called microplastics. This is revealed by a new study published in Scientific Reports by Ismar Cnr (the National Research Council of Lerici), carried out in collaboration with the universities of Ancona and Salento and the Algalita Foundation in California.
"For the first time, the polymers that make up floating microplastics at sea and their distribution have been identified," explains Stefano Aliani of Ismar-Cnr in a press release. Microplastics float in the open sea, particularly in the coastal area of Tuscany.
Microplastics is the term used to describe all those particles that are practically invisible to the naked eye, with a diameter of less than 5 millimetres. The polymers found are of the most varied kinds, all manufactured by human hands in little more than a century and used by us on a daily basis. They range from polyethylene, a precursor used in various packaging sectors — from bottles to bottle caps — to polypropylene, often used as an insulating material or to make the most varied of manufactured goods. Also recorded were heavier fragments such as polyamides and paints, as well as polycaprolactone, "a polymer considered biodegradable", the CNR explains.
And while "in the North Pacific subtropical gyre in 1999 approximately 335,000 plastic fragments per square kilometre were estimated, in the Mediterranean the average is around 1.25 million." Almost four times as many. In the stretch of sea between Tuscany and Corsica alone, "the presence of around 10 kilograms of microplastics per square kilometre was recorded, compared with around 2 kilograms off the western coasts of Sardinia and Sicily and along the northern stretch of the Apulian coast," Aliani explains.
A veritable plastic invasion, which often puts entire ecosystems at risk and forces its way into the food chain, eventually reaching our tables. It is estimated that every year around 300 million tonnes of plastic are produced worldwide, while around 13 million tonnes end up in the sea.
The study also highlights how demand for plastics is continuously growing, to the point that production is expected to quadruple by 2050, accounting for one fifth of total oil production. In Europe alone, single-use packaging accounts for 40 per cent of the market share, while representing 10 per cent of municipal waste production.
According to Legambiente, based on the study on marine litter carried out by Goletta Verde, of the 2,597 floating items of waste monitored, "as many as 95 per cent consist of plastic, above all plastic sheets and bags, both whole and fragmented. These are followed by polystyrene crates and fragments, plastic bottles, nets and fishing lines, and plastic tableware."
The researchers conclude by specifying that this type of information "is important for obtaining a precise estimate of the scale of the problem generated by microplastic waste at sea and for activating appropriate programmes to reduce the presence of these pollutants."