Estudio de la abundancia de microplásticos en doce playas de la isla de Tenerife (Islas Canarias)

Abstract

En la última década, la presencia de microplásticos en los entornos marinos se ha convertido en una importante preocupación ambiental y foco de interés de muchas investigaciones. Estos microplásticos se forman debido a la fragmentación de plásticos de mayor tamaño mediante procesos de fotodegradación y erosión. El presente estudio trata de analizar la acumulación de microplásticos en doce playas de la isla de Tenerife (Islas Canarias), analizando la capa superficial de arena a lo largo de distintos transectos establecidos en función de la amplitud de marea. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que la mayor abundancia de microplásticos fue detectada en la playa de Los Gigantes. Por el contrario, La Tejita fue la única playa que no presentó ninguna de estas partículas. Además, los microplásticos encontrados fueron principalmente del tamaño de 1 mm, acumulándose la mayor parte de estos en la línea de bajamar. El peso registrado en ningún caso superó los 0.408 g, siendo 0 en muchas de las playas. Estos hallazgos sugieren que la determinación cuantitativa de microplásticos que llegan a nuestras playas es muy compleja debido a la diversidad de factores que influyen, si bien podemos decir que en las playas de Tenerife existe un bajo porcentaje de microplásticos. Palabras clave: Tenerife, playa, arena, microplásticos, marea.

Interdependence in Coastal Tourist Territories between Marine Litter and Immediate Tourist Zoning Density: Methodological Approach for Urban Sustainable Development

“…Over the past few years, several operational research projects have been conducted on marine litter in relation to specific tourist areas in Tenerife [17]. These studies have explored entry vectors into marine areas from 2018 to 2021 at different depth levels and Land 2024, 13, 50 6 of 24 with a differential biocenosis relationship [39].…”

“…In particular, the most common types of plastic are polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which explains their high presence in the marine environment [44]. Regarding the Canary archipelago, the presence of microplastics (in some cases mesoplastics were also simultaneously analysed) has been documented on beaches in Tenerife [17]. Although there is no clear definition of what constitutes a hotspot of plastic pollution (especially microplastics), several Canary beaches have been categorized as such-beaches with visual evidence of pollution at any time of the year and reported with values exceeding 100 g/m 2 of plastic in certain seasons.…”

“…Furthermore, tyre remnants, construction litter, coastal leisure items like umbrellas, hammocks, clothing, and towels litter the seabed in these areas. Additionally, there is micro waste such as glass fragments, fishing equipment such as lines, weights, and fishing nets parts, and other abandoned or lost items (Figure 2) [15,[17][18][19]. This has resulted in massive macro and micro waste at all depths of the marine environment [15] which affects tourists' perception of the coastal environment [16].…”

An extended theory of planned behaviour model to predict intention to use bioplastic

“…Moreover, the high percentage of protected areas on the island must be highlighted: there are 38 protected natural areas, which cover 33-46% of the island, depending on the level of protection (Canary Islands Government, 2020). Furthermore, due to its insularity, the use of plastic significantly affects sea, environmental and tourism resources (Villanova-Solano et al, 2019).…”

Methods to characterize Microplastics: Case study on freshwater fishes from a tropical lagoon in Colombia

“…In recent decades, studies seeking to determine the chemical, ecological, and biological impacts of MPs on the environment have increased. However, most studies have focused on assessing the contamination by MPs in marine ecosystems (Villanova Solano et al 2018) and to a lesser extent estuaries and freshwater ecosystems (Calderon et In Colombia, the plastic industry during the last decades has presented an average annual growth of 7% (Sarria and Gallo 2016), which is associated with poor waste disposal, leading to an accelerated process of contamination in marine and freshwater environments, mainly related to single-use plastics. Similarly, MPs are widely distributed throughout the terrestrial environment and can be transported by various means (e.g., wind and runoff) until they reach aquatic ecosystems, including lentic systems, such as swamps or lagoons (Thompson et al 2009; Rodríguez-Sierra et al 2020).…”