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Arenas Blancas (El Hierro island), a new hotspot of plastic debris in the Canary Islands (Spain)
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Researchers found 9,206 plastic items totaling 1,169.7 grams at Arenas Blancas beach on El Hierro island in the Canary Islands across 13 sampling dates, identifying the site as a new hotspot for macro-, meso-, and microplastic debris. The location's exposure to Atlantic circulation patterns drives elevated plastic accumulation compared to other Canary Island beaches.
The present work has studied the incidence and type of micro (1-5 mm), meso (5-25 mm) and macroplastics (>25 mm) that have reached Arenas Blancas beach, located in the north coast of El Hierro island, in the Canary Islands (Spain), from October 2019 to May 2020 (13 sampling dates with 3 sampling points each). Taking into consideration the three studied plastic debris fractions (macro, meso and microplastics), a total of 9206 items were found, which had a total weight of 1169.7 g and a concentration of 891.3 ± 91.5 items/m2 (118.3 ± 17.8 g/m2 and 2.3 ± 0.4 g/L). Regarding their colour, most of them were transparent/white/clear, especially in the microplastic fraction in which they accounted for a 68% of the total. Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy of meso and microplastic fractions indicated that most of the particles were either polypropylene and polyethylene followed by polystyrene in a much lower amount. In general, the total amount of plastic debris that arrives to the beach by the persistent oceanic current pattern linked to the easternmost branch of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre is comparable to those of the most contaminated beaches of the Canary Islands archipelago, suggesting that a new hotspot of plastic debris arrival has been found.
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Playa Grande (Tenerife) and Arenas Blancas (El Hierro): Two massive arrival points of marine microplastic litter in the Canary Islands during 2019-2021 (preliminary results)
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Researchers identified two beaches in the Canary Islands — Playa Grande on Tenerife and Arenas Blancas on El Hierro — as major hotspots for marine plastic litter arrival, with massive accumulations observed between 2019 and 2021. The geographic location of the Canary Islands in the path of the Canary Current makes them a focal point for concentrating plastic debris from the broader Atlantic Ocean.
Results of a three-year monitoring study of two hotspots of massive arrival of microplastics in the Canary Islands (Spain): Playa Grande (Tenerife) and Arenas Blancas (El Hierro)
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Researchers conducted a three-year monitoring study at two hotspot beaches on the Canary Islands -- Playa Grande (Tenerife) and Arenas Blancas (El Hierro) -- documenting the massive and recurring arrival of microplastics to inform targeted clean-up operations and mitigation strategies.
Results of a three-year monitoring study of two hotspots of massive arrival of microplastics in the Canary Islands (Spain): Playa Grande (Tenerife) and Arenas Blancas (El Hierro)
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Researchers conducted a three-year monitoring programme at two microplastic hotspot beaches in the Canary Islands - Playa Grande (Tenerife) and Arenas Blancas (El Hierro) - documenting the composition, abundance, and temporal patterns of microplastic deposition at these high-accumulation sites. The study provides long-term data to support targeted cleanup operations and informs mitigation strategies for areas experiencing massive arrivals of marine plastic debris.
Plastic occurrence in Macaronesia: Three years of monitoring on forty-six beaches across nineteen islands in an Atlantic region
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Researchers conducted a three-year seasonal monitoring campaign across 46 beaches on 19 Macaronesian islands, collecting over 271,000 plastic items and documenting average microplastic concentrations of 1,760 items/m2, with the Canary Islands showing the highest contamination, polyethylene and polypropylene fragments dominating, and five new plastic accumulation hotspots identified.
Occurrence and identification of microplastics along a beach in the Biosphere Reserve of Lanzarote
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Researchers documented microplastic accumulation on a remote beach in the Chinijo Archipelago of the Canary Islands, finding an average density of 36.3 grams per square meter with particles preferentially depositing in rock-sheltered areas, composed largely of polypropylene and polyethylene fragments.
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