The University of La Laguna (ULL)through the Applied Analytical Chemistry Research Group, will develop the MICROTEI project, Determination of microplastics on Teide, fully funded by the Fundación Canarina, to assess the presence of microplastics on Teide.
In addition, the content of microplastics in the rabbit droppings present in the latrines that this invasive species presents in the National Park will also be analyzed.
The Teide National Park, due to its geographical position in the Atlantic Ocean and high altitude, could act as a potential sink for microplastics that reach there dragged by atmospheric phenomena and reach the soil after a dry (air, wind) or wet deposition ( rain, snow), details the ULL in a note.
In this sense, very recent research carried out in the Arctic, the French Pyrenees and in different national parks in the United States highlights the high incidence of microplastics in these protected areas, of great ecological value and relatively distant from the main centers of industrial production and populations.
The objective is to study in a non-invasive way the presence of microplastics in living organisms.
The extensive sampling that will be carried out in the park, and which already has the corresponding permits, will also make it possible to verify the suitability of microplastics as indicators or descriptors of anthropogenic contamination of terrestrial environments and its possible effects on fauna, in such a way that can be extrapolated to other protected natural spaces located in other regions.
The one-year project is financed by the Fundación Canarina, a non-profit foundation established in 2021 and whose main goals are the protection of nature and the environment in the Canary Islands.
