Microplastics and freshwaters: main results of the life project Blue Lakes

The EU LIFE BlueLakes Project tackles the microplastic problem in Italian and German lakes using an integrated approach combining actions of governance, training, technological and monitoring tools, and information and awareness-raising aimed at institutions, relevant subjects and citizens. Main project's actions were performed in Garda, Bracciano and Trasimeno lakes in Italy and in Constance and Chiemsee lakes in Germany. The main aim of LIFE Blue akes was: 1) to guarantee the reduction and prevention of microplastics in the lakes providing operative tools for the monitoring of inland waters and the treatment plants, raising the awareness of all the stakeholders, 2) to provide support for local stakeholders located near the main Italian and German lakes tackling the problem of microplastics based on participation in defining good management practices, 3) to improve the current legislative framework, influencing the policy agenda at Italian, German and European level, 4) to monitor the wastewater treatment plants and 5) to develop a standardised protocols for the designing and carrying out of seasonal microplastic monitoring programmes in the freshwater (lakes and rivers) and wastewater treatment plants. The project ended in September 2023 and one of the most relevant results concerns the development of a protocol regarding sampling, sample processing and characterization of the microplastics found. The protocol will be used at a national level by the Regional and Provincial Environmental Protection Agencies (ARPA and APPA) to carry out checks and monitoring on surface waters. The monitoring of the lakes has demonstrated how widespread and abundant microplastics are, concentrations of up to over 500,000 MPs/km2 have in fact been found in some lakes. The developed methods were used and validated in another 4 bodies of water - Lake d'Orta (sub-alpine); Lake Ridracoli (artificial basin), Lake Scanno (mountain), Lake Cavazzo (karstic). Other results will be reported in the paper. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/559596/document