TY - JOUR

T1 - Abundance, distribution and characteristics of microplastics in the North and South Atlantic Ocean

AU - Andersen, Regitze

AU - Harsaae, Astrid Louise

AU - kellner, Antonia

AU - Smyth, Abi

AU - Rosenkrantz Westermann, Tia Amalie

AU - Green, Mattias

AU - Vollertsen, Jes

AU - Syberg, Kristian

AU - Lorenz, Claudia

PY - 2024/12/1

Y1 - 2024/12/1

N2 - Microplastics are both pervasive in the marine environment and highly detrimental to it. In this study, we investigate the abundance, distribution, and characteristics of microplastics in surface waters on a transect spanning 6 major ocean current regions in the Atlantic Ocean from Scheveningen (the Netherlands) to Montevideo (Uruguay). 50 surface trawls were completed with a manta net (mesh 500 µm, cod 333 µm) and particles were analyzed in the laboratory including polymer type identification with ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. An overall abundance of 0.011 items/m³ was found with no significant difference between microplastic abundance and distance to coast. The dominant polymer types were HD-PE (63.5 %) and PP (28.3 %), shape was fragments (88.6 %), and color was white (59.1 %). We conclude that this study's findings reaffirm the widespread presence of microplastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean, contributing data from consistently under-sampled regions such as the South Atlantic.

AB - Microplastics are both pervasive in the marine environment and highly detrimental to it. In this study, we investigate the abundance, distribution, and characteristics of microplastics in surface waters on a transect spanning 6 major ocean current regions in the Atlantic Ocean from Scheveningen (the Netherlands) to Montevideo (Uruguay). 50 surface trawls were completed with a manta net (mesh 500 µm, cod 333 µm) and particles were analyzed in the laboratory including polymer type identification with ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. An overall abundance of 0.011 items/m³ was found with no significant difference between microplastic abundance and distance to coast. The dominant polymer types were HD-PE (63.5 %) and PP (28.3 %), shape was fragments (88.6 %), and color was white (59.1 %). We conclude that this study's findings reaffirm the widespread presence of microplastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean, contributing data from consistently under-sampled regions such as the South Atlantic.

U2 - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117217

DO - 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117217

M3 - Article

JO - Marine Pollution Bulletin

JF - Marine Pollution Bulletin

SN - 0025-326X

M1 - 117217

ER -