Accumulation of airborne microplastics in lichens from a landfill dumping site (Italy)

The aim of this study was to assess if lichens ( Flavoparmelia caperata ) surrounding a landfill dumping site in Italy accumulated higher amounts of microplastics compared with lichens at more distant sites. Lichen samples were collected at three sites along a transect from the landfill: close (dire...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2021-02, Vol.11 (1), p.4564-4564, Article 4564
Main Authors: Loppi, Stefano, Roblin, Brett, Paoli, Luca, Aherne, Julian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
704/172
704/172/169/824
704/172/169/895
704/172/4081
Anthropogenic factors
Fibers
Humanities and Social Sciences
Landfill
Landfills
Lichens
Microparticles
Microplastics
multidisciplinary
Peroxide
Polyethylene
Polyethylene terephthalate
Polymers
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Waste disposal sites
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Summary:The aim of this study was to assess if lichens ( Flavoparmelia caperata ) surrounding a landfill dumping site in Italy accumulated higher amounts of microplastics compared with lichens at more distant sites. Lichen samples were collected at three sites along a transect from the landfill: close (directly facing the landfill), intermediate (200 m), and remote (1500 m). Anthropogenic microparticles (fibres and fragments) were determined visually after wet peroxide digestion of the samples, and microplastics were identified based on a hot needle test; the type of plastic was identified by micro-Raman analysis. The results showed that lichens collected in the vicinity of the landfill accumulated the highest number of anthropogenic microfibres and fragments (147 mp/g dw), and consequently microplastics (79 mp/g dw), suggesting that the impact of landfill emissions is spatially limited. The proportion of fibres and fragments identified as microplastics was 40% across all sites and the most abundant polymer type was polyester or polyethylene terephthalate (68%). These results clearly indicated that lichens can effectively be used to monitor the deposition of microplastics.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-84251-4