DOI: 10.14466/CefasDataHub.155
Microplastics in sea surface waters in the Southern Bight of the North Sea in 2022
Description
This dataset contains 1 csv file. The dataset contains data of floating microplastic abundances including meso and macro plastics at different locations collected in the North Sea during environmental surveys on the RV Endeavour, in 2022. Microplastic abundances were reported per unit area (km-2). A flowmeter attached to the bottom of the Neuston Microplastic Catamaran trawl was used to estimate the volume of water sampled. The volume sampled was estimated following Russel and Webster (2021) (Microplastics in sea surface waters around Scotland - ScienceDirect). Form and polymer type of all three size classes (micro, meso and macroplastics) are also provided. The reporting of microlitter in surface water was done according to the recent Guidance on Monitoring of Marine Litter in European Seas (JRC Publications Repository). Microlitter types and polymer types was reported according to EMODnet. This work is part of the floating microplastic monitoring commitments Cefas has set itself. The assessment of microplastics in surface waters is used for a potential OSPAR indicator development. Samples were collected using a Microplastic Catamaran in the Southern Bight of the North Sea. In the lab larger items were removed from the sample for imaging and ATR-FTIR (Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopic) analysis. 400 ml of 30% KOH:NaClO were added and then incubated for 24 h at 40 C. Samples were settled for 1 h before filtration onto GF/D filters. Suspected particles were identified and polymer identification was carried out using a LUMOS II micro-ATR-FTIR. Spectra were collected in absorbance mode in the range 4000 - 500 cm-1 at a resolution of 4 cm-1. Polymer identification was verified based on the percentage match against provided polymer libraries. Only matches above 60% were selected for polymer identification.
Contributors
Hoehn, Danja P. / McGoran, Alexandra R. / Barry, Jon / Russell, Josie / Nicolaus, E. E. Manuel / Bakir, Adil
Subject
Litter abundance and type / Marine litter / Management / Monitoring
Start Date
27/11/2022
End Date
30/11/2022
Year Published
2024
Version
1
Citation
Hoehn et al. (2024). 2015-2016 Microplastics in sea surface waters in the Southern Bight of the North Sea in 2022. Cefas, UK. V1. doi: https://doi.org/10.14466/CefasDataHub.155
Rights List
DOI
10.14466/CefasDataHub.155
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