Understanding microplastics distribution in The Canary Islands from a global perspective

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) pollution is undoubtedly one of the most important environmental problems that human beings have to face, from the marine environment to the air and soil, as well as its presence in the biota. Understanding the distribution of MPs in a certain region requires the study of their occurrence in the different environmental compartments and their migration between them to achieve a global vision of the way they are transported and their final fate. In this work, the results of MPs monitoring in complex environmental samples of the Canary Islands in relatively close periods (i.e. seabed sediments, sea urchins, fish stomachs, soils, recycled wastewater and desalinated brackish water) are presented, providing an overview of the current degree of MPs contamination; furthermore, the similarity between the distribution pattern found (sizes, shapes, colours and composition) shows the connection between such compartments and, in particular, the need to develop interdisciplinary and long-term studies to fully evaluate this issue in sufficient detail (Pérez-Reverón et al., 2022, Sevillano-González et al., 2022, Villanova-Solano et al., 2022).