Marine pollution: Let us not forget beach sand

Up to 16.93% (net percentage) abnormal or dead larvae was observed in elutriates prepared from the urban beach sand sample (Marseille); no significant toxicity was observed in the sample collected from the reference beach in La Marana. Results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses revealed that no microplastics were present in either of the samples. Several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs] in both samples and a larger number of individual PAHs in the urban sample than in the sample collected from the reference beach were detected. In addition, the antioxidant dioctyldiphenylamine was detected in both beach sand samples, whereby a higher concentration was found in La Marana than in Marseille. Calculated PAH concentrations in elutriates were generally higher than measured ones.The results of this preliminary study provide evidence of toxicity and the presence of organic trace contaminants in beach sands from France. According to our results, monitoring using a combination of biotests and chemical analyses is recommended, especially of sediments from beaches abandoned to urban and industrial areas.Assessing the chemical or bacterial contamination in marine waters, sediments and organisms is a very common approach to evaluate marine pollution and associated risks [1-7]. In addition, the impact of plastic debris on the chemical contamination of marine ecosystems following the sorption of organic contaminants from seawater or the release of organic plastic additives has been discussed recently [8-10]. Sorption to sediments is the main process that determines the fate of hydrophobic organic compounds in the marine environment. Organic carbon has been shown to be a significant factor in controlling the sorption process [11-13]. Although organic chemicals and heavy metals accumulate in organisms living in/on the sand or on sandy eggs [14,15], the contamination of beaches is not normally considered, except in adjacent waters. This might be due to the lowe