Johnny Gasperi, Rachid Dris, Tiffany Bonin, Vincent Rocher, Bruno
Tassin, Assessment of floating plastic debris in surface water along the
Seine River, Environmental Pollution, Volume 195, December 2014, Pages
163-166, ISSN 0269-7491, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2014.09.001.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749114003807)
Abstract: This study is intended to examine the quality and quantity of
floating plastic debris in the River Seine through use of an extensive
regional network of floating debris-retention booms; it is one of the
first attempts to provide reliable information on such debris at a large
regional scale. Plastic debris represented between 0.8% and 5.1% of
total debris collected by weight. A significant proportion consisted of
food wrappers/containers and plastic cutlery, probably originating from
voluntary or involuntary dumping, urban discharges and surface runoff.
Most plastic items are made of polypropylene, polyethylene and, to a
lesser extent, polyethylene terephthalate. By extrapolation, some 27
tons of floating plastic debris are intercepted annually by this
network; corresponding to 2.3 g per Parisian inhabitant per year. Such
data could serve to provide a first evaluation of floating plastic
inputs conveyed by rivers.
Keywords: Floating plastic litter; Plastic loads; River; Riverine litter