Joselin S Rodríguez-Alcántara, Albert Contreras-Llin, Noelia Cruz-Pérez, Alejandro García-Gil, Carlos Baquedano, Miguel Ángel Marazuela, M Silvia Diaz-Cruz, Jorge Martínez León, Juan C Santamarta
The increasing amount of plastic litter worldwide is a serious problem for the environment and its biodiversity, ecosystems, animal and human welfare and the economy. The degradation of these plastics leads to microplastics (MPs), which have been reported for the first time in groundwater in the Canary archipelago. This research investigates the presence of MPs at nine different points on La Palma and El Hierro, where samples were collected in galleries, wells and springs during the month of December 2022. Six different polymers were found with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) - polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), cellulose (CEL), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)...
April 9, 2024: Journal of Contaminant Hydrology