We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Monitoring of meso and microplastic debris in Playa Grande beach (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain) during a moon cycle
Summary
Microplastic monitoring over a lunar cycle at a Canary Islands beach found no relationship between plastic abundance and moon phase or tidal patterns, suggesting local sources dominate over tidal transport at this site. Polypropylene and polyethylene fragments together accounted for 95% of the particles found.
The occurrence and composition of meso (5-25 mm) and microplastics (1-5 mm) in Playa Grande beach (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain) was monitored during a complete moon cycle on the different moon phases between 17 June and 16July 2019. A total of 10 points were sampled each day finding an average content of mesoplastics of 18 g/m (0.36 g/L) and of microplastics of 13 g/m (1277 items/m or 1.6 g/L). Polypropylene and polyethylene accounted for 19% and 76% of the total, respectively. Tar was also found in the 1-5 mm fraction (2% of the total). Among the particles found, 83% were fragments, 11% pellets, 4% fibres and 2% films. The obtained results revealed that microplastic presence could not be related in this case with the tides but with the orientation and strength/speed of the wind.