Microplastic pollution of French and Swiss beaches is “worrying”, according to a study

Lake Geneva threatened by microplastic pollution. At the initiative of the International Commission for the Protection of Lake Geneva (Cipel), the Franco-Swiss Association for the Preservation of Lake Geneva (ASL) conducted a study in 2021 and 2022, demonstrating “the extent of this pollution”the two organizations said in a statement on Tuesday, August 20. The samples were taken from 25 Swiss and French beaches on Lake Geneva, the largest lake in Western Europe. The study, called “Pla’stock,” revealed an average of 7,600 microplastic particles, between 0.3 mm and 5 mm in length, per square meter, a figure “worrying” according to Cipel and ASL.

Much of this pollution comes from the clothes we wash. “What was very interesting about this studyexplains Nicole Gallina, secretary general of the Commission for the Protection of Lake Geneva, It was to see that 60% of these microplastic particles came from textile fibres, which are released when washing clothes, especially synthetic clothes.”

The European Union will make it mandatory to install pre-filters on washing machines by 2025, but this is not the case in Switzerland.The government and the lower house of parliament rejected a similar proposal.According to Nicole Gallina, personal initiatives are therefore crucial and are not complicated to implement. “Use microfiber bags, wash much less, at much colder temperatures, use rather durable clothes”she lists.

The other plastics identified come from the fragmentation of larger plastics, such as packaging, cigarette butts or industrial granules. Cipel is calling for measures to be taken to reduce their input into the lake through tributaries and rainwater.