WAO Nature & Conservation works on the assessment of microplastics in freshwater, in order to:

• Evaluate the effectiveness of sampling methods adapted for citizen science, such as Babylegs, for sampling microplastics (>300 µm) in river surface waters (This project is being carried out in partnership with the HISA association as part of the MicroPlasticRivers project coordinated by INRAe in Villeurbanne, 69).

• In collaboration with the HISA association, the Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive and INRAe, draw up an inventory of the ingestion of microplastics (> 100 µm) by freshwater fish in mainland France.

• Implement methodologies to extract microplastics from samples (water or animal digestive system) and identify polymer types (PE, PET, PVC, PS, etc.).

Photo : Freepik