Open-Air Dumps in Cordoba, Argentina: A Study on Macro-, Meso-, and Microplastic Pollution

Montevideo

Congreso; SETAC Latin America 15th Biennial Meeting; 2023

Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Anthropogenic activities are increasingly causing harmful impacts on ecosystems where plastic garbage is persistent. Open-air dumps are common in Latin-American and can affect nearby freshwater ecosystems. To address this problem, the aim of this study was to characterize the distribution of open-air dumps soil samples as well as riverbank soil and river sediment and water samples from nearby areas. Regarding the size, the plastic debris was termed micro, meso or macro-plastic and the abundance and plastic mass was calculated for each site. Macro- and meso-items were classified taking account of their functional origin (e.g. food wrappers, packaging, bottles, bags, etc.), type (hard, foamed, film, fiber) and color. Polymers types were identified using Attenuated Total Reflection Infrared Spectroscopy. Results show that subsurface dump-soils presented macro- and meso-plastics concentrations of 4.9 + 1.8 items/kg and 27.22 + 7.5 items/kg, respectively. Regarding origin and color, bags and films as well as white and black predominated in the samples. The main polymer in macro was polystyrene and polypropylene prevailed in meso. In riverbank sediments, 82 z 2.3 macro-plastic items/m* were counted with predominance of food wrappers and film, white color, and polypropylene polymer. For meso-plastic on riverbank, most of the items were film and hard type with white color while no origin was defined. Polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate were the main polymers identified. Similarly, this is the case for meso-plastic found in river. Finally, blue cellulosic fibers were the most abundant items in water river samples (4.5 + 3 items/L) with a mean size of 0.42a.30 mm. Our results show the presence of macro- and meso-plastic in open-air dumps and rivers located nearby (including the control site) as well as microplastic in river water samples. This demonstrates the presence and persistence of plastic in different sizes due to the use mainly of bags and food wrappers with polymers applied in the manufacture of these containers. High plastic consumption in cities and inadequate dumps treatment could be responsible for the high presence of plastic in the ecosystems. Considering these results, a deep evaluation of the negative effects on the aquatic and terrestrial biota is needed. Also, environmental public policy actions should be taken.