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Microplastic inputs to the Mediterranean Sea during wet and dry seasons: The case of two Lebanese coastal outlets
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Sampling of two Lebanese rivers found that microplastic concentrations were far higher in the more urbanized and industrialized river, and that plastic particle loads spiked at the start of the wet season before declining as rain continued—suggesting that seasonal stormwater flushes pulse large amounts of microplastics into the Mediterranean Sea. These results underscore how urban land use and seasonal weather patterns together control the flow of plastic pollution from land to sea.
Few studies have highlighted the impact of urbanization and meteorological events on the quantity of microplastics (MPs) discharged into the sea through rivers. To evaluate this issue in the Mediterranean Basin, surface water samples were collected from two more or less urbanized Lebanese Rivers: the Nahr Ibrahim (S1) and the Nahr Antelias (S2), during dry and wet periods. A significant higher abundance of 14.02 ± 9.8 particles/L was reported in the most industrialized river S2 compared to 1.73 ± 1.38 particles/L at S1. A correlation was found between particle contamination and the season at each site. Our results indicate that the MP concentrations were highest on the first sampling day of the wet season and tended to decrease progressively with increasing cumulative precipitation. Some polymers were identified only during one season. Meteorological events should be taken more specifically into account in order to define the influx of plastic pollution into coastal waters more accurately.
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