PMID- 37401332 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20230817 LR - 20230817 IS - 2050-7895 (Electronic) IS - 2050-7887 (Linking) VI - 25 IP - 8 DP - 2023 Aug 16 TI - Microplastic-sorbed persistent organic pollutants in coastal Mediterranean Sea areas of Tunisia. PG - 1347-1364 LID - 10.1039/d3em00169e [doi] AB - Microplastics (MPs) are emerging pollutants of global concern due to their pervasiveness, high sorption ability for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and direct and indirect toxicity to marine organisms, ecosystems, as well as humans. As one of the major coastal interfaces, beaches are considered among the most affected ecosystems by MPs pollution. The morphological characteristics of MPs (pellets and fragments) collected from four beaches along the Tunisian coast and sorbed POPs, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), were investigated in this study. The results showed that the MPs varied greatly in color, polymer composition and degradation degree. The color varied from colored to transparent and the most prevalent polymer identified using Raman spectroscopy was polyethylene. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images exhibited various surface degradation features including cavities, cracks, attached diatom remains, etc. The concentrations of Sigma(12)PCBs over all beaches ranged from 14 to 632 ng g(-1) and 26 to 112 ng g(-1) in the pellets and fragments, respectively, with a notable presence and dominance of highly-chlorinated PCBs such as CB-153 and -138. Among the OCPs, gamma-HCH is the only compound detected with concentrations ranging from 0.4 to 9.7 ng g(-1) and 0.7 to 4.2 ng g(-1) in the pellets and fragments, respectively. Our findings indicate that MPs found on the Tunisian coast may pose a chemical risk to marine organisms as the concentrations of PCBs and gamma-HCH in most of the analysed samples exceeded the sediment-quality guidelines (SQG), especially the effects range medium (ERM) and the probable effects level (PEL). As the first report of its kind, the information gathered in this study can serve as the baseline and starting point for future monitoring work for Tunisia and neighbouring countries, as well as for stakeholders and coastal managers in decision-making processes. FAU - Barhoumi, Badreddine AU - Barhoumi B AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-7266-1612 AD - Laboratory of Hetero-Organic Compounds and Nanostructured Materials (LR18ES11), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, 7021 Zarzouna, Tunisia. barhoumibadredine@yahoo.fr. AD - Laboratory of Plant Molecular Physiology, Centre of Biotechnology of Borj-Cedria, 2050 Hammam-Lif, Tunisia. FAU - Metian, Marc AU - Metian M AD - International Atomic Energy Agency, Marine Environment Laboratories, Radioecology Laboratory, 4a, Quai Antoine 1er, MC-98000 Monaco, Principality of Monaco. FAU - Zaghden, Hatem AU - Zaghden H AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-9376-5325 AD - Laboratory of Plant Molecular Physiology, Centre of Biotechnology of Borj-Cedria, 2050 Hammam-Lif, Tunisia. FAU - Derouiche, Abdelkader AU - Derouiche A AD - Laboratory of Hetero-Organic Compounds and Nanostructured Materials (LR18ES11), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, 7021 Zarzouna, Tunisia. barhoumibadredine@yahoo.fr. FAU - Ben Ameur, Walid AU - Ben Ameur W AD - Laboratory of Hetero-Organic Compounds and Nanostructured Materials (LR18ES11), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, 7021 Zarzouna, Tunisia. barhoumibadredine@yahoo.fr. AD - Ecologie de La Faune Terrestre UR17ES44, Departement des Sciences de La Vie, Faculte Des Sciences de Gabes, Universite de Gabes, Tunisia. FAU - Ben Hassine, Sihem AU - Ben Hassine S AD - Laboratory of Hetero-Organic Compounds and Nanostructured Materials (LR18ES11), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, 7021 Zarzouna, Tunisia. barhoumibadredine@yahoo.fr. FAU - Oberhaensli, Francois AU - Oberhaensli F AD - International Atomic Energy Agency, Marine Environment Laboratories, Radioecology Laboratory, 4a, Quai Antoine 1er, MC-98000 Monaco, Principality of Monaco. FAU - Mora, Janeth AU - Mora J AD - International Atomic Energy Agency, Marine Environment Laboratories, Radioecology Laboratory, 4a, Quai Antoine 1er, MC-98000 Monaco, Principality of Monaco. FAU - Mourgkogiannis, Nikolaos AU - Mourgkogiannis N AD - Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece. FAU - Al-Rawabdeh, Abdulla M AU - Al-Rawabdeh AM AD - Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Yarmouk University, Irbid 21163, Jordan. FAU - Chouba, Lassaad AU - Chouba L AD - Laboratory of Marine Environment, National Institute of Marine Science and Technology (INSTM), Goulette, Tunisia. FAU - Alonso-Hernandez, Carlos M AU - Alonso-Hernandez CM AD - International Atomic Energy Agency, Marine Environment Laboratories, Radioecology Laboratory, 4a, Quai Antoine 1er, MC-98000 Monaco, Principality of Monaco. FAU - Karapanagioti, Hrissi K AU - Karapanagioti HK AD - Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece. FAU - Driss, Mohamed Ridha AU - Driss MR AD - Laboratory of Hetero-Organic Compounds and Nanostructured Materials (LR18ES11), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, 7021 Zarzouna, Tunisia. barhoumibadredine@yahoo.fr. FAU - Mliki, Ahmed AU - Mliki A AD - Laboratory of Plant Molecular Physiology, Centre of Biotechnology of Borj-Cedria, 2050 Hammam-Lif, Tunisia. FAU - Touil, Soufiane AU - Touil S AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-2878-5757 AD - Laboratory of Hetero-Organic Compounds and Nanostructured Materials (LR18ES11), Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, 7021 Zarzouna, Tunisia. barhoumibadredine@yahoo.fr. LA - eng PT - Journal Article DEP - 20230816 PL - England TA - Environ Sci Process Impacts JT - Environmental science. Processes & impacts JID - 101601576 RN - 0 (Environmental Pollutants) RN - 59NEE7PCAB (Hexachlorocyclohexane) RN - 0 (Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated) RN - 0 (Microplastics) RN - 0 (Persistent Organic Pollutants) RN - 0 (Pesticides) RN - 0 (Plastics) RN - DFC2HB4I0K (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) RN - 0 (Water Pollutants, Chemical) SB - IM MH - Humans MH - Ecosystem MH - Environmental Monitoring/methods MH - *Environmental Pollutants/analysis MH - Hexachlorocyclohexane/analysis MH - *Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated/analysis MH - Mediterranean Sea MH - Microplastics MH - Persistent Organic Pollutants MH - *Pesticides/analysis MH - Plastics/analysis MH - *Polychlorinated Biphenyls/analysis MH - Tunisia MH - *Water Pollutants, Chemical/analysis MH - Animals EDAT- 2023/07/04 06:42 MHDA- 2023/08/17 06:43 CRDT- 2023/07/04 03:33 PHST- 2023/08/17 06:43 [medline] PHST- 2023/07/04 06:42 [pubmed] PHST- 2023/07/04 03:33 [entrez] AID - 10.1039/d3em00169e [doi] PST - epublish SO - Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2023 Aug 16;25(8):1347-1364. doi: 10.1039/d3em00169e.