Types, occurrence, and distribution of

microplastics and metals contamination in

sediments from south west of Kerkennah
archipelago, Tunisia

Khawla Chouchene, Teresa Rocha-

Santos & Mohamed Ksibi

Environmental Science and Pollution

Research

ISSN 0944-1344

Environ Sci Pollut Res

DOI 10.1007/s11356-020-09938-z

1 23
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 Author's personal copy
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09938-z

SELECTED CASE STUDIES ON THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE MEDITERRANEAN AND SURROUNDING

REGIONS

Types, occurrence, and distribution of microplastics and metals

contamination in sediments from south west of Kerkennah
archipelago, Tunisia
Khawla Chouchene 1 & Teresa Rocha-Santos 2 & Mohamed Ksibi 3

Received: 20 March 2020 / Accepted: 29 June 2020

# Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020

Abstract
Microplastics (MPs) are one of the most significant solid waste pollutants in the marine environment and accumulate in sediments
around worldwide. In this study, the pollution level, the type, occurrence, and distribution of MPs in sediments from the
southwestern Kerkennah archipelago, Tunisia, were investigated. Sediment samples were collected from 20 adjacent sites
through three “lines L1, L2, and L3.” MPs were separated from sediment by density flotation (NaCl, 1.2 g cm−3) and charac-
terized in terms of shape, size, and color using microscope. The accumulation of toxic chemicals such as trace metals on
microplastics was measured by atomic absorption microwave-assisted acid extraction. Polymer types were identified using
FTIR-ATR spectroscopy. This study showed that microplastics were found in all samples, which emphasized that their extensive
distribution throughout three lines by an average abundance of “MPs” was 611 items/m2. Among the shape categories of plastic
particles, fiber and fragment were the most dominant frequent shapes (94%). The more frequent colors found were white (52.7%)
and transparent (35.1%). Regarding the sizes, the microplastics below 1 mm were the most common accounting for 97% of all
plastics. Results of trace metals Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr, and Ni in sediments with concentrations were reported as 3.48 μg/g, 0.41 μg/g,
0.38 μg/g, 0.33 μg/g, and 0.12 μg/g, respectively.

Keywords Microplastics . Sediments . Trace metals . FTIR-ATR . Polyethylene . Polypropylene

Highlights Introduction
• Microplastic pollution in all Tunisian coast is a hotspot topic.
• Sidi Youssef port suffers from anthropogenic pressures linked to fishing
activities. Over last year, occurrence of plastic in the environment has
• Microplastics in sediments mostly consisted of fibers and fragments gained attention, predominantly focused on the abundance,
tributaries. identification, and fate of microplastics (MPs). The amount
• Colored particles with small size (< 1 mm) dominated the sediments.
• PE and PP were the prevalence polymer type in identified in the of plastics entering the ocean from waste generated on land
sediments. is still unknown. According to recent estimation, 12,000 MT
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
of plastic waste will be in the environment by 2050 (Zheng
et al. 2020), in which 269,000 tons floating on the sea surface.
* Khawla Chouchene Plastics at sea eventually undergo fragmentation via UV radi-
chouchene.khawla23@gmail.com ation and mechanical forces, break down leading to the for-
mation of microplastics (Zhao et al. 2018). Microplastics are
1 plastic particles less than 5 mm in their longest dimensions
Laboratoire de Génie de l’Environnement et Ecotechnologie,
Université de Sfax, GEET-ENIS, Route de Soukra km 4, Po. Box and can be primary and secondary. Primary MPs are usually
1173, 3038 Sfax, Tunisia manufactured in small size and typically used in personal care
2
Department of Chemistry and CESAM, University of Aveiro, products or in industry process such as plastic extrusion, while
Campus de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal secondary MPs resulted from the fragmentation of large plas-
3
Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Sfax, Route de Soukra km 4, tic due to light degradation and other weathering process
PO. Box 1175, 3038 Sfax, Tunisia (Zheng et al. 2020). As there are different sources, MPs occur
 Author's personal copy
in diverse morphologies such as fragments, fibers, granules,
foams, and tubes in environmental samples (Chouchene et al.
2019). MPs can be originated from fishing nets or lines, plastic
bottles and films, industrial raw material, synthetic fibers from
laundering of textiles as well as clothes and wastewater input,
and other sources (Fahrenfeld et al. 2019). Thus, MPs become
ubiquitous in the marine environment through hydrodynamic
process and ocean currents (Zhao et al. 2018) and have be-
come a pressing environmental issue.
MPs occurrence and distribution have been found in remote
areas worldwide including sediments, surface water, island
lakes, estuarine, coast, and marine organisms (Zhao et al.
2018) and are still topic for discussion. Mediterranean has be-
come known to be accumulating high concentrations of plastics
(Gallo et al. 2018) due to the number of factors such as the
hydrodynamic of this semi-enclosed area and combination with
lack of environmentally sound urban waste management
(Asprogerakas et al. 2020), by this issue that is exposed to high
anthropogenic pressures by heavily populated coastal area,
shipping canal, and strong tourism activities that is considered
a sink for MPs accumulation in sediments. Accumulation of
MPs litters has been detected in multiple environmental com-
partment across the Mediterranean countries such as in Tunisia
sediments, and floating in sea water, in Malta, France, Italy,
Nile deep-sea fan, and Greece (Lusher 2015) and, recently,
detected in the deep-sea sediments of Atlantic ocean,
Northwest Pacific ocean, and Arctic ocean (Zhao et al. 2018).
Compared with oceans, terrestrial matrix such as sediments is
more susceptible to MPs accumulation with diverse sizes
(Wang et al. 2019), which the concentration of MPs in sedi-
ments varies from 0.3 to 5000 items kg−1 (Zhao et al. 2018).
Studies found a positive correlation of MPs abundance with
density populated and urban development (Gray et al. 2018).
Ma et al. (2016), showed that plastic debris and fibers, specially
the smaller particle size implies a higher capacity to sorb and
transport pollutants by possess a larger surface for sorption
higher chemical concentration at lower trophic levels, which
mistake and swallow MPs as food and raise the possibility of
bioaccumulation of this adsorbed contaminants and
bioamplification phenomena in predators, whether due to this
ingestion, MPs can eventually affecting human health (Rocha-
Santos 2018; Prata et al. 2019). Several studies showed that the
most common polymers ingested by organism are polyethylene
(PE) and polystyrene (Gallo et al. 2018); in addition, it is re-
ported that PE exhibited higher sorption affinity for metals than
other polymers (Godoy et al. 2019; Rodrigues et al. 2019).
Besides the sorption of pollutants from the surrounding en-
vironment, various contaminants are present as well in floating
MPs (Gallo et al. 2018). Moreover, some studies have already
documented the high level of contamination including potential-
ly trace metals (i.e., Cu, Zn, Fe, Cd, Pb, and Ni) to plastic debris
and thus their bioavailability to biota in the marine environment
(Brennecke et al. 2016). The presence of Zn, Cu, and other
Environ Sci Pollut Res
dangerous metals such as Pb and As were demonstrated at var-
ious points in the Mediterranean Sea (Godoy et al. 2019).
Determining pollutants in the marine environment and estimat-
ing the potential toxicity, especially the control of the deposition
and bioavailability of toxic elements adsorbed on MPs, has been
growing in recent decades (Akhbarizadeh et al. 2017). The har-
bor area of Sidi Youssef in Kerkennah archipelago is character-
ized by specific anthropogenic pressures linked to fishing activ-
ities. Abandoned or lost fishing gear affects fish stocks and
poses a threat to the marine environment. Indeed, between tra-
ditional fishing and illegal fishing, hybrid methods have devel-
oped in the Kerkennah archipelago. The “gargoulettes” used to
catch octopus are now made of concrete, while the plastic traps
often replace the palm traps. Plastic waste that is not collected on
the earth ends up in the oceans. There, they break down into
increasingly tiny fragments and turn into microplastic particles.
At this situation, the harbor became depicted as waste disaster in
addition to the widespread marine litter. Faced to these deficien-
cies, growing populations, and increasing urbanization with low
capabilities of infrastructure to human and natural resources, this
study makes a challenge to this growing threat by monitoring
this gap. Only few investigations have been conducted on the
MPs distribution in coastal areas of Tunisia (Abidli et al. 2017,
2018; Chouchene et al. 2019). Previous work was led on the
abundance, distribution, and identification of MPs within five
lines along 35 sites along 4200 m from the area of Sidi Mansour
harbor, which is opposite to the Sidi Youssef harbor and to the
industrial sites outcome to the contamination by 11,242 MPs
items (Chouchene et al. 2019). To dive into this tenet, we have
selected the port of Sidi Youssef as the cesspool for MPs inflow
from anthropogenic and geogenic rates.
Yet, no data are available on the typology, distribution, and
occurrence of microplastic pollution in the Kerkennah archipel-
ago, Sfax (Tunisia). Kerkennah archipelago is one of the most
touristic regions and urbanized industrial. It has been the center
intense of traditional and illegal fishing activities and hence is
tagged the most important urbanized industrial of oil-related
activities, including extraction and production. Thus, the coastal
environmental of this islands is exposed to industrial effluents,
atmospheric emissions, and oil crude, which may carry out
MPs and toxic pollutants. In this study, microplastics collected
from 20 sampling points at the Sidi Youssef harbor were set up
for the first time. More appropriate for a collection of data from
different sources will provide data on abundance, type, and
composition of microplastics in Sidi Youssef port.
Materials and methods
Site description
Kerkennah archipelago (34°42′ N; 11′11′ E), situated at 20 km
in the offshore of Sfax and located in the Gulf of Gabes
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Environ Sci Pollut Res
(Southern of Tunisia), occupied a total area around 160 km2
(Trabelsi et al. 2016). This archipelago is characterized by
shallow coastal waters with depth ranging between 0 and
5 m (Ben Brahim et al. 2013), weak currents, high salinities
and temperatures, and sandy shoals dominated by smooth
rocks (Derbali et al. 2009). Sediment samples were collected
from the port of Sidi Youssef (SY) (34°39′23.56″ N, 10°58′
18.31″ E) located in Mellita. SY area was chosen as a specif-
ically interesting zone for MPs monitoring to match specific
needs, because this is the unique navigation channel
connecting Sfax to Kerkennah, subjected to specific anthro-
pogenic impacts which is linked to fishing activities (Aloui-
Bejaoui and Afli 2012), with road traffic and tourism.
Sediments sampling
Twenty sample sites were selected based on the distance of
50-m regular grid pattern, each resulting of three lines. The
first line “L1” includes 8 sampling points from 1 to 8, second
line “L2” includes 8 sampling points from 9 to 16, and third
line “L3” includes 4 sampling points from 17 to 20. As pre-
caution, distance to the estuarine, water dynamics, and the
activity dredging were taken out as indicated in Fig. 1.
Sediment samples were collected from the port of Sidi
Youssef on March 23, 2018.
Approximately, 3–5 cm of top surface sediments were
sliced off from 0.25 × 0.25 m2 using a stainless spatula and
scooped in precleaned glass jars (250 g), immediately
transported to the laboratory. Sediments were homogenized
and dried at 40 °C until completely dried. Sediments were
fractioned through a cascade of stainless steel sieves
(UTEST, ISO3310-1, Germany) of 5-, 2-, and 1-mm mesh.
Sediments were divided into two classes < 1 and 1–5 mm,
Fig. 1 Three study lines of conducted experiments samples for MPs extraction
taking into consideration their nature (vary between fine and
medium sandy). In each class, plastics were excluded from the
non-plastics by the naked eye (1–5 mm) and density separa-
tion (NaCl; 1.2 g/cm3) for the smallest size class (< 1 mm) in
order to extract the MPs particles following the method de-
scribed on the previous study (Chouchene et al. 2019).
Physiochemical parameters
pH and electrical conductivity were determined in a 1:5
material/water ratio as described by Wali et al. (2015). Total
organic carbon (TOC) was determined by sulfochromic oxi-
dation (NF X 31–109 1993). Five milliliters of 0.27 M of
K2Cr2O7 was added to 7.5 mL of concentrated sulfuric acid,
reacted for 30 min at 135 °C. Then the volume was adjusted
until 75 mL with 50 mL of water ultra-pure. After decantation
for 1 h, Cr(III) was dosing by 580 nm with spectrophotometer
UV-Visible Varian Cary 50.
Element digestion and analysis
Total concentration of metals was determined by atomic ab-
sorption microwave-assisted acid extraction (3 mL of HCl +
1 mL of HNO3) according to the procedure reported by Wali
et al. (2015). Teflon reactors containing 1 g of sediment sam-
ples were in an Ethos microwave digester (Thermo Fisher
Scientific, Strasbourg, France). The digestion program
consisted of 10-min gradual increase to 120C, and a 10-min
digestion step at 120C and 1000 W, followed by cooling
stage. After cooling, samples were filtered, and the volume
was adjusted with 25 mL of distilled water, followed by anal-
ysis for trace elements (Cr, Zn, Ni, Pb, Cu) via atomic absorp-
tion spectroscopy (Thermo Scientific, iCE 3000 series,
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Cambridge, UK). The same procedure was performed for the
blank.
Microplastic separation
MPs separation from the sediments was performed by dis-
persion of the samples in a saline solution (1.2 g/cm3),
followed by vigorous shake during 15 min. After this step,
the solution was kept stationary for 2 h. This process was
repeated three times for each sample. The supernatant con-
taining the extracted floating particles was filtered
(Sciences PTFE Membrane Filters 47 mm 0.45um).
Filters were rinsed with distiller water to remove possible
remaining salts and were placed in clean glass Petri dishes
with covers to dry at 60 °C for 2 h. Digestion of organic
matter was performed using 10% KOH solution according
to Lusher et al. (2017) method. After this procedure, MPs
were washed with 1 mL of 80% (v/v) ethanol, covered and
transferred into other petri dishes for microscopic
observation. The filter has been staining according to the
method used by Maes et al. (2017) and observed under a
COFEMO, CFM-7045 B2 optical microscope. A visual as-
sessment was performed to identify, count, photograph, and
sort according to colors and morphology: fibers/lines, frag-
ments, foams, granules, and tubes. Occurrence and abun-
dance were calculated based on microscopic observation
and were confirmed with FTIR-ATR. Spectra analysis
was recorded in transmittance mode, as the average of
132 scans in the spectrum range set to 4000–400 cm−1 at
resolution of 8 cm−1 for each particle. The sum between
different ranges of each sample leads to two types of results,
an average concentration and a total concentration of the
three lines. The average concentration gives the number of
MPs found per line, while the total concentration expresses
the sum of all MPs in the three lines and reflects the abun-
dance of MPs in the sampling area.
Quality assurance and quality control
To avoid possible contaminations such as fibers deposition
from air during the entire proceeding, all the equipment used
was made of glass and thoroughly rinsed with distiller water
before use. Work surfaces also were cleaned by ethanol or
acetone to assure the efficiency of laboratory clean air devices
in MPs monitoring. One hundred percent cotton laboratory
coat and gloves were worn.
A precision of ± 0.02 pH unit and an accuracy of ± 0.05 pH
unit have been achieved by careful use of a laboratory pH
meter with good electrodes. However, ± 0.1 pH unit repre-
sents the limit of accuracy under normal conditions.
Conductivity is calibrated against 84.0 uS/cm KCl solution
according to manufacturer’s instructions. Prior to measure-
ment, cell and sample beaker are rinsed three times with de-
ionized water. After calibration, the recovery percentage of
EC and pH is within 95–105%.
Results and discussion
Microplastics abundance, distribution, and
accumulation
The total number of plastic debris found in each sampling line
and in other studies is shown in Table 1. The overall distribu-
tion of plastic debris was found to be in the following order:
“L2” 275p/m2 > “L1” 218p/m2 > “L3” 118p/m2. The abun-
dance of MPs and their accumulation varied regarding the size
fraction, that is, MPs abundance increased with decreasing
size of sediments. In this study, most MPs particles were
found in the size of < 1-mm sediments. The smallest size (<
1 mm) was accounted for 97% of the total and 3% represent
the largest size (1–5 mm). The smallest size is always the most
prevalent in these lines. The average concentration was 595

Table 1 Comparison between

MPs abundance between Location Size (mm) p/m2 Reference
sediments around island
worldwide locations Maldives Islands 1–5 22.6 Imhof et al. (2017)
>5 13.2
Caribbean Islands 1–5 0.2–2500 Schmuck et al. (2017)
Famara, Canary Islands 1–5 541.66 CEDEX (2016)
Nicobar archipelago 0.45–0.1 437 Krishnakumar et al. (2020)
0.1–2 1427
Isle of Rugen (Baltic Sea) 0.063–5 2862.56 Hengstmann and Tamminga (2018)
Rameswaram Island coast 1–200 403 Vidyasakar et al. 2018
Canary Islands, Spain 1–5 2–2971 Álvarez-Hernández et al. (2019)
Biosphere Reserve of Lanzarote 1–5 9149 Edo et al. (2019)
Kerkennah archipelago (Sidi Youssef port) <1 595 This study
1–5 16
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p/m2 for the smallest size (< 1 mm) and 16 p/m2 for the largest
one (1–5 mm). Typical debris of microplastics selected from
those observed at the different sampling lines is shown in
Fig. 2.
Several studies reported that approximately 60% of MPs
distribution comprised micro-sized followed by meso-size
and then macro-sized solids (Vidyasakar et al. 2018). This
large difference is consistent with similar studies on stranded
MPs debris on sediment islands, in which largest plastic par-
ticles collected in the Maldives Islands (Imhof et al. 2017) and
Nicobar archipelago (Krishnakumar et al. 2020) were
microplastics. This study revealed a marginally greater
microplastic abundance in comparison to the study conducted
by Imhof et al. (2017) who assessed the spatial and temporal
variation of macro-, meso-, and microplastic abundance on a
remote coral island of Maldives. In the Caribbean Islands,
MPs density (0.2–2500 p/m2) was higher than of the present
study (Table 1). Exposure to ocean currents has been
highlighted as a primary source influencing the occurrence
of microplastics on several islands in the Pacific, which is
coherent with the results reported by Hengstmann and
Tamminga (2018). This finding clearly shows the impact of
environmental factors such as surface currents and wind in-
creasing the presence of different plastic shapes.
When compared with that detected in the beaches of the
oriental islands (Edo et al. 2019; Álvarez-Hernández et al.
2019), microplastics concentration is much lower. However,
in those cases, most of the beaches sampling were not period-
ically performed, and the cleaning and coastal zone manage-
ment were not developed in the same zone of the beach.
The difference between MPs abundance and distribution is
likely explained by the degradation process of large plastics
which occur during inter- and intra-particles collisions
(Cooper and Corcoran 2010) by UV radiation and mechanical
and/or biological degradation processes (Ding et al. 2019; Zhu
et al. 2018).
“L1,” “L2,” and “L3” showed highest microplastics concen-
trations with uneven dynamic behavior. The distribution of par-
ticles in the lines may be explained by the influence of factors or
Fig. 2 MPs of the collected
archipelago sediments. a
Fragment and b fiber from the
samples of Sidi Youssef port of
the Kerkennah archipelago
activities such as dredging, trawling, and tidal currents. Rocha-
Santos and Duarte (2014) discussed that hydrodynamic factors
influence on the MP distribution in coastal area, especially the
upper sea surface circulation. For instance, the highest concen-
tration was found in line “L2” in relation to the land line “L1,”
which is likely related to the formation of a transitional conver-
gence area and hydrodynamic conditions and under wind var-
iability (direction + intensity) (GESAMP 2015). Several studies
showed that the Anthropocene has been indicated as a new
geological epoch (Kane and Clare 2019); due to the lower ox-
idation, colder temperature, and lack of UV radiation, MPs
deposited in the benthic realm might breakdown more slowly
than at the land line as indicated in this study. Kane and Clare
(2019) reported the distribution of MPs in Deep-Marine
Environments and have shown that channel axes, canyons,
flow deposit, and turbidity tend to occur in distal lobe settings
that are less prone than erosion. They conclude that channels
axes can be considered as an important conveyorsof and tem-
porary storage sites for MPs and are most likely hotspots for
long-term accumulations. In this study similar phenomenon can
be observed in the line “L3” which globally sinks and buried for
MPs particles. However, due to disturbance produced by dredg-
ing activity in line “L3,” the upper sediment layer is regularly
mixed, making it difficult to establish a relation between sedi-
mentation rate and temporal MPs accumulation. In terms of
size, the smallest size plastic distributions were most probably
measured by subtropical climate and were transported distance
from the source area. Studies conducted by Galgani et al.
(2015) and by Kane and Clare (2019) showed a strong relation-
ship between microplastic aggregation and both marine circu-
lation and weather conditions. The impacts of a changing cli-
mate on ocean salinity and volume and the movement of air and
water suggest that there will be significant changes to the cur-
rent pattern of distribution (Welden and Lusher (2017)). The
same authors reported an unusual huge quantities of small plas-
tic particles estimated as surface abundance in the North Pacific
Subtropical Gyre and the South Pacific Gyre of 334,271 and
26,898 km2, respectively. They explained this phenomenon by
the fact that plastics and microplastics which are not entrained
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Environ Sci Pollut Res

in gyre systems reach distant ocean regions and shores due to
ocean transport, i.e., surface currents and the transport of bot-
tom water. They add that areas of high evaporation will expe-
rience increase in water density, resulting in the persistence of
plastics in the water column and/or surface water. Consistent
with other studies, local settlement and fishing hamlets were
known as the main sources for the high level of MPs of 403
(Vidyasakar et al. 2018).
The MPs debris were constituted by 94% of both fragments
(48%) and fibers (46%) (Fig. 3) and around 6% of both gran-
ules (≈ 3%), foams (≈ 2%), and tubes (0.3%). Fragments and
fibers were expected to be the most predominant type of the
MPs debris. Substantial amounts of marine litter are accumu-
lating in the Mediterranean basin, which according to the most
recent estimation reported by Digka et al. (2017),
microplastics were found in high abundance (up to 1760 par-
ticles m−2) in which fragments dominated the large micropar-
ticles (99.7%). Avio et al. (2015) and Cózar et al. (2015)
reported that out of the total detected debris in the
Mediterranean basin, plastic fragments were the maximum
(47–50%). In the previous study conducted in the Sidi
Mansour harbor in Tunisia, we recorded much higher frag-
ments abundance (5332 p/m2) among the five lines of the 35
sites explored (Chouchene et al. 2019). The dominance of
fragments and fibers in sediment samples over other types of
marine debris (foam, tubes, and granules) suggest that the
source of MP in the island of Kerkennah is more related to
the breakdown of large plastic debris (Vianello et al. 2013)
than to direct primary inputs such as those expected from
wastewater treatment plants where fibers are the dominant
(Browne et al. 2011). Fragments and fibers were extensively
used as disposable household materials and fishing net. In the
present study, fibrous MPs were most likely originated from
two main materials such as textiles not retained by sewage
plants and fishing gear (Kane and Clare 2019). As indicated
in other studies, washing clothes may lead to the release of
more than 1900 fibers per wash or as much as 700,000 fibers
per 6 kg load of acrylic fabric (Mu et al. 2018).
These buoyant particles suggest also the existence of sed-
imentation process related to aging processes that modify par-
ticle densities and shape (Cole et al. 2011); surface biofilm
development (Cózar et al. 2015) can sink MPs (Lobelle and
Cunliffe 2011) or force their incorporation into the bottom
(Long et al. 2015).
Microparticles were observed in a wide spectrum of
colors such as white (52.7%), transparent (35.1%), black
(3.3%), yellow-red/blue-green (2.4%), red (1.3%), green
(1.3%), pink (0.8%), yellow-aged (i.e.,, yellow color due
to sun exposition) (0.8%), blue (0.6%), and purple (0.5%)
(Fig. 3). As it can be observed, 87.8% of the microparticles
were white and transparent, while 12.2% had other colors.
This finding is consistent with the study of Pan et al. (2019)
that white and transparent were 80% of the MPs observed
colors (Pan et al. 2019) and corroborate with previous re-
ported studies as shown in Table 2. Concerning fragments
94.7% were white and transparent, while 5.3% were red,
pink, black, and related. Fragments red and transparent were
only found in the range of 1–5 mm. Fibers were 90.8%
transparent and white, while 9.2% were green, red, yellow-
aged, blue and purple. Transparent fibers were only detected
in the range of 5 mm. Granules, foams, and tubes present
unique colors, where granules were black and yellow-red/
blue-green for foams (from brown to black) and tubes (from
transparent to white). Yellow-aged, white, and transparent

Fig. 3 a Occurrence, b types, and 300 a) b)

Microplasticabundance(p/m )
2

c colors of Microplastics Fragments

distribution. d Composition of Fibers
200 Granules
microplastics in different sites of
Foams
Sidi Youssef harbor, Kerkennah Tubes
archipelago 100

0
L1

L2

L3

Lines

50
d) c) White
40 transparent
Pourcentage%

Black
30 yellow-red/blue-green
Red
20
green
10 yellow-aged
pink
0 blue
n
PP

PE

PS

purple
lo
Ny
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Table 2 Microplastic types, size, colors and composition of different countries

Location Prevalent types Frequency Colors Composition Reference

size (mm)

New Zealand Fragments 2–5 White and clear PS Clunies-Ross et al. (2016)
Australia Fibers and 0.1–3 Black Nylon and PET Jahan et al. (2019)
spherules
Malaysia Fragments 0.315–5 White and brown PP and PS Matsuguma et al. (2017)
Mexico Fiber and foams 1–5 White and green PE And PP Alvarez-Zeferino et al. (2020)
Brazil Fragments <5 Blue, red, and PP, Nylon and Polyvinyl De Carvalho and Baptista neto
green Alcohol (2016)
Europe Fibers <1 Blue and black PS, PP And PE Lots et al. (2017)
Sidi Mansour, Tunisia Fragments and 0.1–1 White and red PE And PP Chouchene et al. (2019)
granules
Kerkennah Archipelago (Sidi Fragments and <1 White and PE And PP This study
Youssef port) fibers transparent

colors were predominant in line L3, while all colors appear
in lines L1and L2.
It has been hypothesized that small and white/
transparent particles are ingested preferentially by organ-
isms rather than color choices, which enhances our food
chain because sedimented microplastic maybe ingested by
marine organisms resulting eventually in translocation of
chemical pollutant as a real threat as it will look edible for
fauna and bird (Prata 2018). The impact of MPs on aquat-
ic life deserves more attention in the future.
MPs identification
Composition analysis of 611 microplastics was assigned
to 4 polymer types. These polymers were identified and
confirmed with FTIR spectroscopy, images are shown in
Fig. 4. Polyethylene and polypropylene (PP) were the
most commons polymeric materials, while nylon and
polystyrene were the second most abundant and detected
in all samples. Besides their application in clothes, they
are the common component of the concrete. On the other
hand, they are derived from the broken-down larger debris
(Zhao et al. 2015). Alternatively, these types are also used
in personal care and cosmetics products (PCCPs), such as
abrasive, film forming, viscosity controlling, and binder
for powders (Zhao et al. 2015). The ubiquitous presence
and accumulation of microplastics in China's estuaries,
coastal and inland waters, especially those issued from
synthetic fabrics like polystyrene (PS) has been reported
by Wang et al. (2018). In addition, nylon is widely used
in all kind of fibers (clothes, packaging of frozen foods,
and liquid and medical supplies) but also in fishing nets,
which make it abundant in marine environment, where
nylons were ingested by fishes in all life stages (Dantas
et al. 2012).
Physiochemical properties of sediments
The collected sediments were mainly composed of sands (97–
95%) and small fraction of clay. The specific area of sediments
was in the order of 10m2 g−1 (Zouch et al. 2019).The analyzed
total organic carbon (TOC) in sediments was in the range of 2.3
to 5.7% and fine silt particles (< 63-μm fraction) in the range of
5–91%. pH and EC of sediment surface were ranged between 8
to 8.40 and 5 to 20.66 mS/cm, respectively. TOC values were
associated with the higher abundance of MPs. This finding has
been reported by Maes et al. (2017) and Strand et al. (2013),
who found a correlation between the percentage of TOC and
MPs in marine sediments. Indeed, sediment aggregates can be
embedded with microplastics, with the aggregates being
formed and disintegrating, depending on sediments character-
istics, such as pH and salinity. Consequently, during formation
of sediment aggregates, organic matter and microplastic parti-
cles could be aggregated all together (Quik et al. 2014).
The average contents of trace metals (Zn, Cu, Pb, Cr, and
Ni) in sediments from all three lines are shown in Table 3.
Among investigated metal, Zn is mostly occurring in the re-
sidual fraction with mean value of 60%, indicating that it is
strongly associated with minerals and resistant components of
the solid matrix, indicating both anthropogenic and geogenic
origin. The fraction of Cu (40%), Pb (38%), and Cr (32%) was
considerable. Cu (40%) mostly occurs in the oxidizable frac-
tion which is consistent with its strong affinity for combining
with organic matter in sediments associated to anthropogenic
source. Ni was excluded as it displayed unacceptable recovery
and is usually indicated for crude oil sources and mixed of
geogenic and crude oil leakage (Sierra et al. 2014). According
to Akhbarizadeh et al. (2017), changes in the environmental
conditions and activities lead these metals to become easily
bioavailable. Furthermore, Table 3 displays the spatial distri-
bution of MPs. The lines “L1” and “L3” displayed the low
 Author's personal copy
Environ Sci Pollut Res

Fig. 4 FTIR spectrum of the most frequently observed microplastic in the sediment of Sidi Youssef harbor, Kerkennah archipelago

concentrations of MPs and trace metals, while the line “L2” shown that PE and PP are the dominant detected MPs.
exhibited relatively high concentrations of MPs and trace Although MPs particles potentially sorb metals in soils and
metals. This may result their accumulation in sediment pro- sediments, competitive adsorption will result in relatively low
viding a source of toxic trace elements (Yu et al. 2019). Once levels of adsorbed metals onto the MPs particles, particularly
entering the environment, the plastic with sorbed trace ele- at high trace metals loadings, thereby reducing the extent of
ments can be ingested, incorporated, and accumulated in the possible exposure to trace metals via MPs for soil organisms
bodies and tissues of aquatic and terrestrial organisms and (Hodson et al. 2017). However, several factors and variables
finally end up in human diets via food chains. From Table 3, can influence the interaction between metals and MPs, such as
we can expect that the greater amount of extracted trace metals the alteration of the plastic surface exposed to atmospheric
is likely related to the high MPs abundance. In the section agents, the increased roughness of aged particles compared
“MPs identification”, we demonstrated that the dominant re- with virgin materials, and the faster decomposition of darker
ported polymer compositions are PE and PP. This finding particles (Campanale et al. 2019). All these components ac-
goes in the direction that trace metals are mostly adsorbed celerate the degradation processes of MPs, creating anionic
on MPs. Indeed, Wang et al. (2018) reported that rubbery and active sites that increase the interaction of particles with
amorphous phase of PE and PP had higher affinity towards heavy metals, which can have implications for marine life and
trace metals than the glassy plastic debris (PS and PVC). the environment as reported by Brennecke et al. (2016).
Based on chemical properties, rubbery amorphous plastic
phase had greater mobility and flexibility that enhanced the
chemical sorption. The density estimation of MPs as contam- Conclusion
inant vectors had been the subject of experimental studies and
review papers supporting and challenging this purpose Marine environment burden is enhancing day to day due to
(Godoy et al. 2019; Rodrigues et al. 2019). These studies illegal and unfair disposal of huge amount of plastics. In the
stated that PE and PP had higher sorption capacity and may case of this study, plastic is allegedly accumulated in a long
act as transport vectors for environmental contaminants com- time in the port of Sidi Youssef in Kerkennah archipelago
pared with other plastics. Based on the present work, we have so that entrapped in sediments. Abundance of 611 items/m2
was dominated by fragments (48%) and fibers (46%) with
minor number of granules, foams, and tubes, indicating
Table 3 Metal concentrations recovered from the sediments of Sidi
Youssef port in Kerkennah archipelago expensive dispersion in the coast. PE and PP are the most
common polymers identified. Trace elements (Zn, Cu, Pb,
Metals (μg g−1) Zn Cu Pb Cr Ni MPs Cr, and Ni) were present in the sediments and showed ten-
lines (p/m2)
dency to increase with higher abundance of MPs. This
L1 1.066 0.39 0.31 0.26 0.021 218 study supports the idea that microplastics has led to an
L2 3.48 0.41 0.38 0.33 0.12 275 increase in the accumulation of trace elements. Thus, MPs
L3 1.056 0.37 0.27 0.037 0.07 118 debris can act as potential vector of metals to aquatic or-
ganisms. This risk associated should be further assessed.
 Author's personal copy
Environ Sci Pollut Res
Funding information K. Chouchene acknowledges the University of
Sfax which provided financial support for her internships at the
University of Aveiro. Thanks are due to CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020 +
UIDB/50017/2020), with the financial support from FCT/MCTES
through national funds. This work is funded by project MicroPlasTox,
with the reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028740; funded by FEDER,
through COMPETE2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e
Internacionalizacao (POCI); and by the National Funds (OE), through
FCT/MCTES.
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