Microplastic contamination in Auckland (New Zealand) beach sediments.

We report the first large-scale investigation of microplastic contamination in beach sediments across Auckland, New Zealand's most populous region. Sediment samples were taken from the high tide and intertidal zones at 39 sites across estuary, harbour and ocean environments of the East and West Coasts. Microplastic contamination was present at the majority of beaches studied with a mean abundance of 459 particles.m-2 ranging from 0 to 2615 particles.m-2. High variability was observed between the sites, indicating the importance of small-scale factors on microplastic contamination. Samples from high and intertidal zones showed no significant difference in microplastic contamination (p = 0.225). The West Coast beaches exhibited higher microplastic contamination compared with East Coast beaches (p = 0.004). Microplastics were predominately fibres (88%), with lower proportions of fragments (8%) and films (4%). The majority of the microplastics analysed were regenerated cellulose (34%), polyethylene terephthalate (22%) and polyethylene (15%).

Bridson JH ，Patel M ，Lewis A ，Gaw S ，Parker K ... -  《-》

A large-scale investigation of microplastic contamination: Abundance and characteristics of microplastics in European beach sediment.

Here we present the large-scale distribution of microplastic contamination in beach sediment across Europe. Sediment samples were collected from 23 locations across 13 countries by citizen scientists, and analysed using a standard operating procedure. We found significant variability in the concentrations of microplastics, ranging from 72±24 to 1512±187 microplastics per kg of dry sediment, with high variability within sampling locations. Three hotspots of microplastic accumulation (>700 microplastics per kg of dry sediment) were found. There was limited variability in the physico-chemical characteristics of the plastics across sampling locations. The majority of the microplastics were fibrous, <1mm in size, and blue/black in colour. In addition, using Raman spectrometry we identified particles as polyester, polyethylene, and polypropylene. Our research is the first large spatial-scale analysis of microplastics on European beaches giving insights into the nature and extent of the microplastic challenge.

Lots FAE ，Behrens P ，Vijver MG ，Horton AA ，Bosker T ... -  《-》

Evaluation of microplastics in beach sediments along the coast of Dubai, UAE.

Microplastic contamination in beach sediments along coast of Dubai is un-documented. In this study, microplastic contamination in beach sediments collected from the wrack lines of 16 beaches in Dubai was evaluated. Five samples were collected from each beach along a 100 m stretch using a 0.5 m by 0.5 m, quadrant. The number, color, and shape of microplastics were documented. The polymer types of large fibers and strings were identified through FT-IR analysis. 480 microplastics from each of the 16 beaches were selected to detect heavy metals using XRF analysis. The results showed that the average weight of microplastic is 0.33 mg per gram of dry sediment (or 953 mg·m-2) and the number of microplastic is 59.71 items per kg of dry sediment (or 165 items·m-2). Blue and fibrous microplastics were dominant. Polyethylene strings and fibers were abundantly found. 13 heavy metals were identified of which five are priority pollutants.

Aslam H ，Ali T ，Mortula MM ，Attaelmanan AG ... -  《-》

Microplastics on sandy beaches of the southern Baltic Sea.

Microplastic occurrence and composition were investigated along the Polish coast (southern Baltic Sea) on 12 beaches differing in terms of intensity of their touristic exploitation, urbanisation and sediment characteristics. Their mean concentrations varied between 76 and 295 items per kg dry sediment. Fibres and plastic fragments were the dominant microplastic types. Overall, no relationship was found between their concentrations and sediment characteristics. Fine sediments were not identified as microplastic pollution traps. The highest microplastic concentrations were recorded at some urban beaches indicating that population density and the level of coastal infrastructure development are important factors affecting microplastic pollution level on beaches. On the other hand, microplastic concentrations in national parks did not differ substantially from the other beaches. Our results suggest that sediment accumulation processes may exceed microplastic accumulation, and overcome the effect of tourism and/or urbanisation, highlighting the role of the beach hydrodynamic status in structuring beach microplastic pollution.

Urban-Malinga B ，Zalewski M ，Jakubowska A ，Wodzinowski T ，Malinga M ，Pałys B ，Dąbrowska A ... -  《-》

Quantitative assessment of microplastic in sandy beaches of Gujarat state, India.

The present study was carried out to quantify microplastic prevalence among 20 sandy beaches on the Gujarat coast. Beaches were categorised into three different classes, viz. low-impacted sites, moderately impacted sites, and highly impacted sites based on anthropogenic pressure. Microplastic (MP) (≤ 5 mm) contamination on the beaches varied with an average of 1.4 MPs/kg to 26 MPs/kg sediment. Sutrapada site-1 and Porbandar showed the highest and lowest mean abundance of microplastics, respectively, among 20 selected beaches. Out of the total assessed microplastics, threads were the maximum (89.98%), followed by the films (4.75%), fragments (3.36%) and foam (1.89%). In terms of colour and size, different microplastics were recorded in this study. The chemical composition of microplastics was identified by ATR-FTIR as polypropylene (47.5%), polyethylene (26%), and polystyrene (25%). Tourism and fishing activities are the possible sources of higher microplastic contamination at highly impacted sites.

Rabari V ，Patel K ，Patel H ，Trivedi J ... -  《-》