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

RONDA, ANA C.; ARIAS, ANDRÉS H.; RIMONDINO, GUIDO N.; PÉREZ, ANALÍA F.; HARTE, AGUSTÍN; MARCOVECCHIO, JORGE E.

Current Environmental Health Reports

Springer Nature

Año: 2021

urpose 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