Micro plastics, metals, chemical contaminants, Ifremer (French research institute for the exploitation of the sea), supported by the water agency, has just concluded a long-term study to monitor pollutants in the Mediterranean Sea .
On average, around 100 survey points have been installed on the coast every three years. Sampling sediment on the bottom, catching fish, fishing with plastic microphones, the researchers tracked down some 65 contaminants. The length of this study was intended to assess the progression of pollutants and delivers a rather reassuring conclusion. The chemical contamination of the Mediterranean "is stable", note the authors of the study. "Globally, the Mediterranean is in a good chemical state", summarized the biologist Marc Bouchoucha.
90% of the survey points have contamination rates below the regulatory thresholds.
However, with a few black spots on the board.
The persistence of PCB, a product banned since 1987, pollution around old industrial sites and metropolitan areas and the arrival of new substances, in particular drug residues.
Discover the results of this study in our video.
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