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Sources and fate of microplastics in urban areas: A focus on Paris megacity

Author: Rachid Dris, Johnny Gasperi and Bruno Tassin
Year of Publication: 2018
Published: Wagner M., Lambert S. (eds.). Freshwater Microplastics. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 58. Springer, Cham

Abstract:
Since the beginning of the 2010s, the number of investigations on microplastics in freshwater increased dramatically. However, almost no study aims at investigating the various sources and fate of microplastics in a catchment. This chapter aims at analyzing the various sources and fate of microplastics for an urban catchment and its hydrosystem (sewage, runoff, etc.). It presents the results obtained during a 3-year study of the Paris Megacity. Such a study required the development of appropriate sampling strategies for each compartment. It was highlighted that fibers are highly concentrated in the studied area, and therefore a focus in this category of microplastics was carried out. The atmospheric fallout exhibited important levels of fibers. However, at the scale of the Parisian agglomeration, wastewater treatment plant disposals and combined sewer overflows represent the major sources (number of fibers introduced per year) among the studied ones.

Keywords:
Fibers, Freshwater, Microplastics, Plastic pollution, Urban areas, Urban impact

Citation:
Dris, R., Gasperi, J., Tassin, B., 2018c. Sources and fate of microplastics in urban areas: A focus on Paris megacity. In: Wagner M., Lambert S. (eds.). Freshwater Microplastics. The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol 58. Springer, Cham.

Link:
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-61615-5_4#citeas

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Synthetic and non-synthetic anthropogenic fibers in a river under the impact of Paris Megacity: Sampling methodological aspects and flux estimations

Author: Rachid Dris, Johnny Gasperi, Vincent Rocher and Bruno Tassin
Year of Publication: 2018
Published: Science of the Total Environment 618: 157–164

Abstract:
Processed fibers are highly present in our daily life and can be either natural, artificial (regenerated cellulose) and synthetic (made with petrochemicals). Their widespread use lead inevitably to a high contamination of environment. Previous studies focus on plastic particles regardless of their type or shape as long as they are comprised between 330μm and 5mm. On the contrary, this study focuses exclusively on fibers using a smaller mesh size net (80μm) to sample freshwater. Moreover, all processed organic fibers are considered, irrespective to their nature. First, the short term temporal variability of the fibers in the environment was assessed. While exposing the sampling net during 1min a coefficient of variation of approx. 45% (with n=6) was determined. It was of only 26% (n=6) when the exposure was of 3min. The assessment of the distribution through the section showed a possible difference in concentrations between the middle of the water surface and the river banks which could be attributed to the intense river traffic within the Paris Megacity. The vertical variability seems negligible as turbulence and current conditions homogenize the distribution of the fibers. A monthly monitoring showed concentrations of 100.6±99.9fibers·m-3 in the Marne River and of: 48.5±98.5, 27.9±26.3, 27.9±40.3 and 22.1±25.3fibers·m-3 from the upstream to downstream points in the Seine River. Once these concentrations are converted into fluxes, it seems that the impact generated by the Paris Megacity cannot be distinguished. Investigations on the role of sedimentation and deposition on the banks are required. This study helped fill some major knowledge gaps regarding the fibers in rivers, their sampling, occurrence, spatial-temporal distribution and fluxes. It is encouraged that future studies include both synthetic and none synthetic fibers.

Keywords:
Fibers, Freshwater, Microplastic sampling, Microplastics, Synthetic fibers

Citation:
Dris, R., Gasperi, J., Rocher, V., Tassin, B., 2018b. Synthetic and non-synthetic anthropogenic fibers in a river under the impact of Paris Megacity: Sampling methodological aspects and flux estimations. Science of the Total Environment 618: 157–164.

Link:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717330723?via%3Dihub

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Microplastic contamination in the Seine River: Spatial and temporal variations of synthetic and non-synthetic fibers

Author: Rachid Dris, Johnny Gasperi, Vincent Rocher and Bruno Tassin
Year of Publication: 2018
Published: Techniques - Sciences - Methodes 5: 45–53

Abstract:
Processed fibers are highly present in our daily life and can be either natural, artificial (regenerated cellulose) or synthetic (made with petrochemicals). Their widespread use leads to a high contamination of the environment. Previous studies focus on plastic particles regardless of their type or shape as long as they are smaller than 5 mm. On the contrary, this study focuses exclusively on fibers using a smaller mesh size net (80 μm) to sample freshwater. First, the short term temporal variability of the fibers in the environment was assessed. While exposing the sampling net during 1 minute, a coefficient of variation of approx. 45% (with n = 6) was determined. It was of only 26% (n = 6) when the exposure was of 3 minutes. The assessment of the distribution through the section showed a possible difference in concentrations between the middle of the water surface and the river banks which could be attributed to the intense river traffic within the Paris Megacity. The vertical variability seems negligible as turbulence and current conditions homogenize the distribution of the fibers. A monthly monitoring showed concentrations of 100.6 ± 99.9 fibers/m³ in the Marne River and of 48.5 ± 98.5, 27.9 ± 26.3, 27.9 ± 40.3 and 22.1 ± 25.3 fibers/m³ from the upstream to downstream points in the Seine River. Once these concentrations are converted into fluxes, it seems that the impact generated by the Paris Megacity cannot be distinguished. Investigations on the role of sedimentation and deposition on the banks are required. This study helped fill some major knowledge gaps regarding the fibers in rivers, their sampling, occurrence, spatial-temporal distribution and fluxes. It is encouraged that future studies include both synthetic and none synthetic fibers.

Keywords:
Fibers, Microplastics, Seine River, Paris Agglomeration, Plastics

Citation:
Dris, R., Gasperi, J., Rocher, V., Tassin, B., 2018a. Microplastic contamination in the Seine River: Spatial and temporal variations of synthetic and non-synthetic fibers. Techniques – Sciences – Methodes 5: 45–53.

Link:
https://astee-tsm.fr/articles/tsm/abs/2018/04/tsm201805p45/tsm201805p45.html

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Anthropogenic particles in the stomach contents and liver of the freshwater fish Squalius cephalus

Author: France Collard, Johnny Gasperi, Bernard Gilbert, Gauthier Eppe, Sam Azimi, Vincent Rocher and BrunoTassin
Year of Publication: 2018
Published: Science of the Total Environment 643: 1257–1264

Abstract:
Anthropogenic particles (APs) are a very broad category of particles produced directly or indirectly by human activities. Their ingestion by biota is well studied in the marine environment. In contrast, studies on AP ingestion in wild freshwater organisms are scarce despite high contamination levels in some rivers and lakes. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the ingestion of APs and the possible occurrence of APs in the liver and muscle of a freshwater fish, Squalius cephalus, from the Parisian conurbation. After isolation, the particles were analyzed using Raman spectroscopy. In sixty stomachs, eighteen APs were found, half of which were plastics and the other half were dyed particles. Twenty-five percent of sampled individuals had ingested at least one AP. The mean length of the APs was 2.41 mm. No significant difference was found between the sites upstream and downstream of Paris. Additionally, 5% of sampled livers contained one or more APs, which were characterized as microplastics (MPs). No APs were found in the muscle tissue. The majority of APs isolated from stomach contents were fibers, which is similar to the findings of a previous river contamination study. This highlights that fish could be more exposed to fibers than previously thought and that more studies on the impacts of fiber ingestion are required. Despite their low occurrence, MPs are reported, for the first time, in the liver of a wild freshwater fish species. While the pathways and impacts are still unknown, MPs also occur in liver of marine mollusks and fish. Physiological in vitro studies are needed to better evaluate the impacts of such phenomena.

Keywords:
Microplastics, Fibers, Seine River, European chub, Muscle, Liver

Citation:
Collard, F., Gasperi, J., Gilbert, B., Eppe, G., Azimi, S., Rocher, V., Tassin, B., 2018. Anthropogenic particles in the stomach contents and liver of the freshwater fish Squalius cephalus. Science of the Total Environment 643: 1257–1264.

Link:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969718323891