• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Chemistry

57% of the plastic waste on the Tarragona coast is clothing fibers from washing machines

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
June 10, 2019
in Chemistry
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Researchers from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili research group Tecnatox have analyzed the pollution of the sea, the marine sediment and the beaches of the Tarragona coast with microscopic plastic waste

IMAGE

Credit: URV

The sea water, beaches and sediments on the Tarragona coast contain quantities of plastic similar to those in a big city like Barcelona. And more than half are clothing fibres from washing machines. This is one of the main findings of a study carried out by researchers from the URV’s research group Tecnatox and presented last week at a congress in Helsinki. They are not referring exclusively to the plastic waste that can be seen floating on the water or being washed up by the waves. What most concerns them is the presence of microscopic plastic waste that cannot be seen by the naked eye but which can have an impact on human health. It is the study of these particles and their effects that is the main objective of the researchers from the URV’s Department of Chemical Engineering and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In a series of pioneering studies that were initiated in 2018, they analysed samples of sea water, marine sediment and sand from Tarragona beaches to determine the presence of plastics and their possible source.

These plastics are washed into the sea by streams and large rivers like the Ebro, as well as by the drainage system and underwater outfalls. They also come from industrial discharges of plastic polymers and direct discharges into the sea by boats. Recent studies, however, have revealed other possible sources of pollution: for example, synthetic fibres that come from clothes during washing. From the samples taken from the Tarragona coast, the researchers have observed that up to 57% of all the plastics analysed from sea water are microscopic fibres from clothes, which flow into the treatment parts and which are only partially removed before the water is finally discharged into the sea.

The results of analysing the sediments and the sand from the beaches revealed the existence of microscopic plastics belonging to three main groups: polypropylene (42%), polystyrene (37%) and polyethylene (16%). All these plastics are the waste products of everyday things such as bags, wrappings, containers and recipients of all sorts. The plastic that is washed up on the beaches does not degrade; it is only broken up into increasingly smaller pieces by the force of the waves. These small pieces of plastic are referred to as microplastics when they are just a few millimetres in size (up to 5) and as nanoplastics when they are smaller than one millimetre. The presence of this waste in the sea is not just a problem of pollution; it is also a health risk. Microplastics can be ingested by humans in food, which does not necessarily have to be seafood. Both marine invertebrates, such as molluscs and crustaceans, and the fish that live on the sea bed ingest the microscopic pieces of plastic in the water and the sediment. Depending on the size of these pieces they can block the digestive tract and cause death or are still in their digestive system when caught.

Marine plastics also absorb potentially toxic heavy metals and organic molecules. These plastics remain in the digestive system of marine organisms and, therefore, can be passed on to the people who eat them. The next step is to study whether the smallest plastics – that’s to say, nanoplastics – can cross the membranes of cells in the liver, kidney and nervous system. In this regard, the TecnATox researchers are developing new methods for detecting these nanoplastics in biological cells that will make it possible to evaluate the harmful effects of this waste on human health.

###

Media Contact
Marta Schuhmacher
[email protected]

Original Source

http://diaridigital.urv.cat/en/more-than-half-of-the-plastic-waste-on-the-tarragona-coast-consists-of-clothing-fibres-from-washing-machines/

Tags: BiochemistryBiomedical/Environmental/Chemical EngineeringBiotechnologyChemical/Biological WeaponsEcology/EnvironmentPollution/RemediationTechnology/Engineering/Computer ScienceToxicology
Share13Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Hundreds of Satellite Systems Discovered Orbiting Dwarf Galaxies in New Survey

August 5, 2025
Harnessing Nature: Exploring Bush Basil Companion Plants for Organic Pest Control

Harnessing Nature: Exploring Bush Basil Companion Plants for Organic Pest Control

August 5, 2025

Diastereodivergent Routes to Multi-Substituted Cycloalkanes

August 5, 2025

UofL Study Reveals Amplified Liver Damage from Combined Exposure to Alcohol and “Forever Chemicals”

August 5, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • blank

    Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    72 shares
    Share 29 Tweet 18
  • Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    61 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • Predicting Colorectal Cancer Using Lifestyle Factors

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12
  • Dr. Miriam Merad Honored with French Knighthood for Groundbreaking Contributions to Science and Medicine

    47 shares
    Share 19 Tweet 12

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

World Models Power End-to-End Accident Prediction

Deep Sequencing Reveals Plasmodium vivax Lineages

Enamel Rod-End Patterns: New Forensic ID Tool?

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.