study
Israeli coast polluted with two tons of microplastics
According to a study, the Israeli coast is polluted with more than two tons of microplastics. photo
© Oded Ballilty/AP/dpa
Scientists are sounding the alarm: anyone walking along the beach in Tel Aviv will inevitably come into contact with it. According to measurements, every cubic meter contains almost 18,000 microplastic particles.
According to a study, the Israeli coast is polluted with more than two tons of microplastics. The beaches in Tel Aviv and Chadera are the most polluted, with almost 18,000 such particles per cubic meter, writes a team from Tel Aviv University in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin.
The findings are alarming. In view of the results, contact with microplastics is practically unavoidable, the team emphasizes, pointing to risks for both the environment and human health. Sources of pollution are food packaging, single-use plastic products and fishing nets.
Ines Zucker’s team investigated the level of pollution along the coast together with Israel’s Mediterranean Research Center. For this purpose, samples were taken on six beaches between Haifa and Ashkelon.
Co-author Andrey Ethan Rubin said of the impact of around two tons of microplastics: “Environmental conditions slowly break down this plastic into smaller particles.” The smaller these particles are, the more difficult it is to remove them from the environment and the more harmful they are to the environment and human health. “The plastic particles drifting into the sea are swallowed by fish, and their remains end up reaching people.”
In view of the results, researcher Zucker called for regulatory steps “to reduce Israel’s contribution to the pollution of the Mediterranean Sea with microplastics”. Microplastics usually refer to plastic particles with a diameter of less than five millimeters.