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Harmonized analytical dataset and visual outputs on microplastic pollution and coastal anthropogenic pressure in the Caspian Sea Basin
Summary
Researchers pulled together existing data on microplastic pollution in the Caspian Sea—the world's largest inland body of water—along with information on nearby waste, shipping, and tourism activity, creating an organized dataset for future study. This matters because the Caspian Sea provides food and drinking water sources for millions of people in the surrounding countries, and understanding where plastic pollution is coming from is a first step toward figuring out how it might affect the fish we eat and the water we drink. Importantly, the particles found in this region haven't yet been chemically confirmed as plastic through lab testing, so this dataset is more of a foundation for
This dataset integrates and harmonizes previously compiled evidence on microplastic pollution in the Caspian Sea Basin with official secondary statistics on waste generation, maritime freight transport and tourism-related anthropogenic pressure in Azerbaijan’s Caspian coastal regions. The package includes structured study metadata, quantitative microplastic records, long-format coastal pressure indicators, a data dictionary, complete references, descriptive statistics and analytical visual outputs. The evidence covers sediment, water, aquatic biota and qualitative coastal observations. Original measurement units are retained because results reported for different environmental matrices are not directly comparable. The dataset is intended to support systematic review, secondary-data analysis, methodological comparison, research-gap assessment and sustainable coastal management research in the Caspian Sea Basin. The Azerbaijan pilot observations are classified as microplastic-like anthropogenic particles because chemical confirmation by FTIR or Raman spectroscopy was not conducted.