title: Assessment of floating plastic debris in surface water along the Seine River.
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.
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Est, LEESU, UMR MA 102 - AgroParisTech, 61 avenue du Général de Gaulle, 94010 Créteil Cedex, France. Electronic address: gasperi@u-pec.fr.
authors.forename: Johnny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gasperi
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Est, LEESU, UMR MA 102 - AgroParisTech, 61 avenue du Général de Gaulle, 94010 Créteil Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Rachid
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dris
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Est, LEESU, UMR MA 102 - AgroParisTech, 61 avenue du Général de Gaulle, 94010 Créteil Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Tiffany
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bonin
authors.affiliation: SIAAP, Direction du Développement et de la Prospective, 82 avenue Kléber, 92700 Colombes, France.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rocher
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Est, LEESU, UMR MA 102 - AgroParisTech, 61 avenue du Général de Gaulle, 94010 Créteil Cedex, France. Electronic address: bruno.tassin@enpc.fr.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tassin
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005602:France; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D014866:Waste Products; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Floating plastic litter; Plastic loads; River; Riverine litter