Extraction and characterization methods for microplastics from estuarine and coastal samplings – Example of the 2019 TARA expedition Lata Soccalingame Bretagne Sud University, France Marie Notheaux Bretagne Sud University, France Maialen Palazot Bretagne Sud University, France Mikaël Kedzierski Bretagne Sud University, France Stéphane Bruzaud Bretagne Sud University, France This is a section of Ninth International Symposium “Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas: Problems and Measurement Techniques”(DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-0030-1) by Laura Bonora, Donatella Carboni, Matteo De Vincenzi, Giorgio Matteucci Firenze University Press Firenze 2022 https://doi.org/10.36253/979-12-215-0030-1.52

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To investigate plastic pollution in rivers, the Tara schooner collected samples from 9 of the main European rivers from May to November 2019. The objectives of the present study are the quantification of the microplastic (MP) contamination and the identification of the chemical nature of microplastics. Thus, extraction methods and automated computer processing for polymer characterization were developed. The three main polymers found were polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS). These results must be compared to the results from other rivers to draw a consistent pattern.

 Plastic pollution Microplastics Microplastic extraction Infrared spectroscopy

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