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Updated: Jun 7, 2025
Sampling, Sorting, and Characterizing Microplastics in Aquatic Environments with High Suspended Sediment Loads and Large Floating Debris
Published on: July 28, 2018
Persistence and potential increasing accumulation of microplastic pollution on the Skikda coast (northeastern
Halima Grini1, Sophia Metallaoui2, Nelson Rangel-Buitrago3
1Department of Natural and Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of 20 août 1955-Skikda, Skikda, Algeria; Research Laboratory on Interactions of Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Biotechnology, University of 20th August 1955-Skikda, Skikda, Algeria.
Abstract:
This paper describes the microplastic problems on five sandy beaches along the Skikda coastline (southwestern Mediterranean, northeastern Algeria), defining their magnitudes, spatial-temporal distributions, shapes, polymer types, impacts, and potential sources. The data presented in this study were collected during two field surveys in May (spring) and September (autumn/fall) of 2019. Overall, the average abundance of microplastics across all beaches was 6174 items/m2 in spring and 6183 items/m2 in autumn, representing the highest level of MPs ever reported in Algeria. The most common microplastic types found were fragments, pellets, foams and fibers, accounting for >98 % of the microplastic shapes collected in this study. Our findings highlight the persistence of MPs on the studied beaches and that environmental factors such as currents, wind directions, beaching, sedimentation, dunes, and fragmentation all significantly impact the distribution and accumulation of plastic debris on beaches.
