S2 2_Kienzl

Foto zum Thema ...
Plastics in the Environment
Activities in Austria
@ B. Liebmann,
Umweltbundesamt
Plastics in the Aquatic Environment
 Worldwide production of plastics amounts to 280 Mio.
Tons/year (2012)  Trend is increasing
 80% of marine plastics litter has land-based sources
 20% originate from fishing vessels and cruise-ships
 Rivers are regarded as main contributors, but solid
data are missing
 Fragmented knowledge from rivers and lakes
 Different approaches
 Incomparable results
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Austria is landlocked
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Danube River Survey
 Two sampling sites close to the Austrian borders
 Cross sectional and in-depth sampling for profiling the
transport of plastics
 First and unique approach
 Sampling at different hydrological discharges
 Drift net sampling with a mesh size of 500µm and 250µm
 Identification of the plastic particles
 Calculation of plastic transport and plastic load
Funded by Austrian Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and
Water Management, Federal Provinces of Upper Austria, Lower Austria,
Vienna in Co-operation with BOKU and viaDonau
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Methodology
@ M. Liedermann, BOKU
 Drift net assembled to a rack and exposed from a lorry
 Developed and handled by BOKU - University of Natural Resources
and Life Sciences Vienna
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Analysis of microplastics

Avoid contamination (clothes, lab equipment)

Concentration of microparticles on filters

Identification of polymer type by
Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR)

„Chemical imaging“ of particles directly on filter by
Infrared microscopy & spectroscopy (micro FT-IR)
-> polymer type, particle shape, and position
@ B. Liebmann,
Umweltbundesamt
PP
PE
PA
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River Profile &
Plastic Loads
 First data of a river profile
 Depth variance and cross section
 Higher concentrations on the surface
 Higher concentrations at river bank
 Dynamics of disposal and remobilisation in the river
 Transport
 25-145 kg/d for total
 Load
 <40 tons/a for total of plastics (about 15-20 tons/a from Bavaria)
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… more Results
 Approx. 90% of plastics are discharged by diffuse
sources
 Surface run-off, Littering by consumer, improper product use,
construction, wind driven transport, plastic film use (agriculture)
 Point sources
 Sewage treatment plants, sewers
 Industrial origin
 Production, transport, processing
 Identified as pellets
 No evidence of plastics in fish of the Danube River
 30 individuals
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Challenges & Conclusions
 European Standards
 Which size do we measure  Definition of microplastics
 Where do we measure  River profiles & ecosystems
 How do we measure and calculate the load  compareable methods
(Austria has a scientific based proposal)
 Separation of microplastics from natural matrix
 Identification of polymeres to identify the origin
 Prevention at the sources
 Zerro pellets and powder loss in production transport & processing
 Less or no use in cosmetics
 Reduce and ban littering
 Collect and reuse plastics
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Contact
Karl Kienzl
Deputy Managing Director
Environment Agency Austria
@ P. Hohenblum,
Umweltbundesamt
[email protected]
Environment Agency Austria
www.umweltbundesamt.at
Eliminating Plastic and Microplastic
Pollution – an urgent need
Brussels ■ May 11th 2015
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