16/08/2022
A team from the ICRA Water Quality Area collaborates in the Projecte Escanyagats of La Sorellona
The research team of ICRA formed by the researchers Sara Rodríguez-Mozaz, Jose Castaño and Lucia Helena Santos, from the Water Quality Area, has collaborated with the environmental non-profit organization “La Sorellona”, in the framework of the project “Escanyagats”, focused on the study, conservation and dissemination of Mediterranean freshwater habitats.
Within this project, and through the funding of the project “LIBERA” (SEO/Birdlife and Ecoembes), ICRA partners have applied a simple methodology for the screening of microplastics (MPLs) in the Onyar river. This methodology had been firstly implemented in the Celrè river (Quart, province of Girona) during last year. The results indicated a moderate presence of MPLs along the Onyar river, especially in the most urban site of Girona (903 MPLs /m3).
Different microplastic shapes were observed, with a predominance of fragments (78 – 85%) over fibers (12 – 20%) and spheres (1 – 3%). Microplastic concentrations are comparable or slightly above than those previously reported in the Celrè river, a tributary of Onyar (Ter basin).
Simultaneously, “La Sorellona” has evaluated the performance of drainage meshes, attached to waste and rainwater collectors, to reduce the release of urban litter into the river. Based on the amount of collected litter (rainwater collector) after 4 months (1 kg), they estimated a reduced discharge of 3 kg litter / year / collector into the Onyar river. Such preventive actions are relevant because these residues, which can eventually fragment into microplastics, contribute to the degradation of freshwater ecosystems.
