Project Deep See: Local Microplastic Study Finds High Levels Of Acrylic In Deeper Maltese Waters
Project Deep See is the latest local microplastic study aiming to achieve a more comprehensive look at the levels of microplastic within deeper Maltese waters, using the manta net in a world-first technique.
The project aims to discover microplastic polymer pollution of the Maltese nearshore waters from an innovative perspective. A manta net is a small, easily manageable net designed to sample microplastics located in the first few centimetres of the water column, however, here it’s being used to sample deeper waters.
In the latest findings, Acrylic was the highest plastic pollutant found in deeper Maltese waters.
The survey was carried out to map the different layers of the sea, to determine the plastic contamination not just at the surface, but also at different depths within the water column.
It focused on three pollution hot spots around the island, including Xgħajra, Lapsi, and Ħofra ż-Żgħira, as well as a control site at Selmun, where samples were collected from each location.
The largest amount of polymers that were found were Acrylic at 42.9%, PE at 17.3%, PP at 15.7%, and PS at 10.5%, with the analytical examination of the samples being carried out by Eurofins Analytical Services Hungary Ltd.
The accredited laboratory results show a significant difference between the parallel surface and deep sampling, contamination results in terms of certain polymers, especially in the case of Acrylic pollution.
The phenomenon might be linked to environmental conditions such as salinity or buoyancy, and the nature of certain polymers such as density, size, shape, or weight.
Test samples were collected from two different depths, at 6 to 7 metres and 10 to 11 metres from the surface.
The preliminary quantitative and qualitative investigation report for microplastic samples from Maltese nearshore waters was led by marine biologists Alan Deidun and Ede Kossári-Tarnik from the University of Malta and the Oceanography Research Group, in collaboration with local NGO Żibel, together with Eurofins and the International Ocean Institutes.
What do you make of this preliminary data?
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