A scientific team from the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO-CSIC), in collaboration with the Institut Català de Recerca de l’Aigua (ICRA) and the Universidade da Coruña, published two works that analyze the presence and distribution of contaminants of emerging interest in surface waters of two sensitive areas of great ecological interest in the western Mediterranean: the Mar Menor and the Ebro delta.
During surface water sampling, carried out in winter and summer, 63 different organic contaminants were detected, including sunscreens, plastic additives, synthetic musks, other personal care products and pesticides of various types. Specifically, the most abundant substances were three endocrine disruptors present in sunscreens that, especially in summer, reached concentrations that could cause adverse biological effects in some aquatic organisms.
“Sunscreens are present not only in the creams and cosmetics that we use more and more frequently, but also in the formulations of many plastic materials,” explained María del Mar García Pimentel, predoctoral researcher at the Murcia Oceanographic Center of the IEO-CSIC. and first author of both studies.
In addition, the scientific team demonstrated that plastic waste has the capacity to absorb organic pollutants from the sea water that surrounds them, finding 91 different pollutants attached to them. Apart from additives to the plastic itself, sunscreens, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, drugs, synthetic musks, among others, have been found.
The plastic waste sampled can have multiple sources, for example, uncontrolled dumping of urban and tourist waste, as well as activities in the marine environment and agriculture. These plastics not only concentrate the pollutants in the surrounding environment, but also release their own components into the water with which they are in contact. “Hence, it is essential to also carry out good management of all the waste we generate, not only for its better use but also to reduce the impact that we all cause on the environment that surrounds us,” said the researcher.
Debugging works
Another study carried out by the same scientific team, although this time led by the ICRA, published in the scientific journal Environmental Research, shows the impact of improving the purification and reuse of wastewater on the levels of drugs in the water and sediment of the Mar Menor. This work confirms that the presence of drugs sampled in 2018 and 2019 was significantly reduced compared to what was observed in 2010.
However, drug concentrations in certain species of the lagoon, such as galupe, conch and cockle, showed that the bioaccumulation of analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs such as ketoprofen (especially for veterinary use), salicylic acid, lipid regulators such as bezafibrate or medications for psychiatric use such as carbamazepine continue to be present, although at levels generally lower than those in 2010, so there are still sources and access routes for drugs for human and veterinary use to this coastal lagoon.
The scientific team was able to demonstrate the importance of good water treatment and management by verifying the significant increase in the concentration of drugs after the floods that periodically affect this area, especially in the superficial fresh layer and for some antibiotics such as clarithromycin and sulfapyridine. These massive contributions through torrential waters are an important transfer route to the lagoon.
The IEO-CSIC is responsible for the Belich research and scientific advice project (Monitoring, study and modeling of the marine ecosystem of the Mar Menor), within the Framework of Priority Actions to Recover the Mar Menor launched by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
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