Plastic Impacts in Argentina: a Critical Research Review Contributing to the Global Knowledge

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Plastic pollution research has experienced exponential growth in the last decade; however, Argentina concentrates more than 70% of their research in the last 4 years. This review compiles regional research on plastic pollution in water, soil, sediment, air and organisms in Argentina. It discusses current sampling, quantification, and plastics identification methodologies while analyzing levels, gaps, and opportunities.

RECENT FINDINGS

Research in plastic pollution was mainly focused on the biosphere component (52.9%), followed by the hydrosphere component (29.4%), and finally the lithosphere component (17.7%), with less than 20% addressing multiple components simultaneously. Sixty percent of this research was focused around microplastics, and less than 20% have considered multiple plastic debris sizes. Marine coastal species from Argentina had higher levels of microplastics than organisms from other South American studies, while microfibers were identified in 100% of the freshwater organisms studied. The lowest microplastic concentrations were found in lakes and in the Paraná and La Plata rivers, while the maximum concentrations were found in Pampa´s streams. There was a lack of standardization in methodology and unit expression in studies of sediment microplastics, which hinders comparison between reports. Argentine scientists have created the national alliance called SciEnce for Plastic Impacts Argentina (SEPIA). SEPIA is a network which aims to systemize plastic pollution research, coordinate methodologies, and enhance relationships with decision-makers, NGOs, and the general public. A time gap was found between the designation of principal international multilateral agreements and the implementation of national regulations for plastic waste treatment, with a tendency to include advanced concepts as Extended Producer Responsibility and Circular Economy.

Occurrence of microplastics in municipal sewage treatment plants: a review

Municipal sewage treatment plants (STPs) are thought to be important point sources of microplastics in freshwater systems and many peer-reviewed articles have been published on this issue since mid-2010s. In this review, we summarize existing literature on the occurrence of microplastics in STPs and experimental methods used for isolation and identification of microplastics. The number concentrations of microplastics in STP influents were 15.1-640 L-1 , whereas those in the STP effluents were highly variable and ranged from not detectable to 65 L-1 . For most of cases, conventional STPs are removing microplastics very effectively. Fragments and fibers are dominant shapes of microplastics. Thermoplastics (polyethylene and polypropylene) and polyester are the predominant materials recovered. Although further research is needed, size distribution of microplastics in STPs is likely to follow a power law, implying that different studies using different size cutoffs may be compared after establishing a power law relationship.