‘Alarming’ microplastic pollution in Europe’s great rivers

PARIS: “Alarming” levels of microplastic have been found in major rivers across Europe according to scientists in 14 studies published simultaneously on Monday.

“The pollution is present in all European rivers” studied, said French scientist Jean-Franois Ghiglione, who coordinated the large-scale operation across nine major rivers from the Thames to the Tiber.

“Alarming” pollution of on average “three microplastics per cubic metre of water” was observed in all of them, according to the results published in the journal of Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

This is far from the 40 microplastics per cubic metre recorded in the world´s 10 most polluted rivers -- the Yellow River, Yangtze, Mekong, Ganges, Nile, Niger, Indus, Amur, Pearl and Hai -- which irrigate countries where most plastic is produced or plastic waste is processed.

But this does not take into account the volume of water flowing. On the Rhone in Valence, France, the fast flow means there are “3,000 plastic particles every second”, said Ghiglione. The Seine in Paris has around 900 per second.