The discovery of two new types of plastic pollution in the Mediterranean for the first time suggests plastic contamination may be more widespread along coastlines than we realised.
Plasticrust and pyroplastics were spotted on the Italian island of Giglio off the Tuscan coast. It is possible that wildlife may be eating the material.
Plasticrust is, as the name suggests, a layer of plastic crust. It forms on rocks when plastic in the ocean is mechanically worn down by waves rubbing it over rocky outcrops, leading to small particles getting trapped on the solid surface. Prior to being spotted in Italy, plasticrusts have also been found recently聽.
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Pyroplastics are burned pieces of plastic that are hard to distinguish from stones, and聽.
New plastic pollution
Sonja Ehlers at Germany鈥檚 Federal Institute of Hydrology and independent researcher Julius Ellrich say their findings on Giglio suggest the plastic pollution isn鈥檛 a local phenomenon confined to Madeira. 鈥淭he plasticrusts from Madeira were also made of polyethylene, just like the ones we found, and that is a very widespread plastic debris. I assume that it could be more widespread than is actually known right now.鈥�
Ehlers and Ellrich surveyed several sites on Giglio last month. They found blue crusts on rocks that are submerged during high tide 鈥� the plasticrusts 鈥� and grey stone-like blobs of plastic with bits of blue on a beach, the pyroplastic. Analysis using spectroscopy showed the plasticrust was polyethylene, the most common plastic we produce, and the pyroplastic was polyethylene terephthalate, used to make drink bottles.
The culprit for the pyroplastic may have been a beach campfire, says Ehlers, judging from burnt charcoal found nearby, and the number of blue plastic bottles she found on Giglio.
We should be concerned, says Ehlers. 鈥淚t shows how plastic debris is changing the landscape,鈥� she says.
We don鈥檛 know for sure whether animals are eating these plastics, but it seems likely. Snails were found on the plasticrust in Madeira and marbled rock crabs (Pachygrapsus marmoratus) on the plasticrust in Giglio. 鈥淭his might be a way the plastic enters the food chain,鈥� says Ehlers.
bioRxiv
