Open-Air Dumps in Córdoba, Argentina: A Study on Macro-, Meso-, and Microplastic Pollution

ANSOAR, YADIRA; LIDWINA BERTRAND ; GUIDO N. RIMONDINO; CAMILA COSTAA; MARÍA VALERIA AMÉ

Montevideo

Congreso; SETAC Latin America 15th Biennial Meeting; 2023

The Anthropocene is a new epoch in Earth´s history, which has been created by human impacts on the environment. This period is characterized by a series ofenvironmental changes, in which anthropogenic activities are increasingly leading to harmful impacts on ecosystems. Currently, one of the most visibleenvironmental issues is plastic pollution, which is prevalent in a variety of forms worldwide. The generation of plastic waste is primarily driven by human actions,and if consumption patterns do not change, it is estimated that by 2050, there will be around 12 billion metric tons of plastic waste in the world. A significantamount of this plastic waste ends up in open-air dumps, which are common in Latin America and can have detrimental effects on nearby freshwater ecosystems.The implementation of efficient waste disposal methods that minimize potential hazards and isolate waste from the environment has not yet been fully realized,resulting in numerous informal landfill sites in urban areas. This problem, along with its environmental impact, is prevalent in the city of Córdoba, Argentina, wherea significant amount of plastic waste accumulates in these sites. In order to address this issue, the goal of this study was to characterize the distribution ofmacro/meso plastics in soil samples taken from open-air dumps, as well as microplastics in soil samples, river sediment, and water samples collected from nearbyareas.