RT journal article
T1 The dark side of artificial greening: Plastic turfs as widespread pollutants of aquatic environments
A1 de Haan, William P.
A1 Quintana Sepúlveda, Rocío
A1 Vilas, César
A1 Cózar Cabañas, Andrés
A1 Canals, Miquel
A1 Uviedo, Oriol
A1 Sanchez-Vidal, Anna
A2 Biología
K1 Artificial turfs
K1 Microplastics
K1 Marine litter
K1 Riverine litter
AB Artificial turf (AT) is a surfacing material that simulates natural grass by using synthetic, mainly plastic, fibers indifferent shapes, sizes and properties. AT has spread beyond sports facilities and today shapes many urbanlandscapes, from private lawns to rooftops and public venues. Despite concerns regarding the impacts of AT, littleis known about the release of AT fibers into natural environment. Here, for the first time, we specificallyinvestigate the presence of AT fibers in river and ocean waters as major conduits and final destination of plasticdebris transported by water runoff. Our sampling survey showed that, AT fibers – composed mainly of polyethylene and polypropylene – can constitute over 15% of the mesoplastics and macroplastics content, suggestingthat AT fibers may contribute significantly to plastic pollution. Up to 20,000 fibers a day flowed down throughthe river, and up to 213,200 fibers per km2 were found floating on the sea surface of nearshore areas. AT, apartfrom impacting on urban biodiversity, urban runoff, heat island formation, and hazardous chemical leaching, is amajor source of plastic pollution to natural aquatic environments.
PB Elsevier
SN 1873-6424
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/31718
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/31718
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 21-sep-2026