Med 87% polluted, record microplastics - report

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 8 - Some 87% of the Mediterranean Sea is polluted and there is a record level of microplastics in the sea, the WWF said in a new report Monday.
    The sea is full of toxic metals, pesticides, industrial chemical substances and plastic refuse, with a record concentration of microplastics of around 1.9 million fragments per square metres, the highest ever recorded in the deep, said the report There Is No Health In A Sick Environment, published on Monday's International Day for the Mediterranean, set up in 2014.
    Water pollution causes some 1.4 million premature deaths in the world each year, the report added.
    Lakes and rivers are also showing record levels of pollution, the report said. (ANSA).