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Tier 2
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Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence.
Environmental Sources
Marine & Wildlife
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The accumulation of microplastic pollution in a commercially important fishing ground
Scientific Reports2022
25 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 40
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Lucy C. Woodall
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Lucy C. Woodall
Nia H. Jones,
Nia H. Jones,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Nia H. Jones,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Lucy C. Woodall
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Nia H. Jones,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Lucy C. Woodall
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Lucy C. Woodall
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Lucy C. Woodall
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Louise Kregting,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Konstadinos Kiriakoulakis,
Konstadinos Kiriakoulakis,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Lucy C. Woodall
Louise Kregting,
Louise Kregting,
Louise Kregting,
Konstadinos Kiriakoulakis,
Konstadinos Kiriakoulakis,
Pia Schuchert,
Jaimie T. A. Dick,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Sonja M. Ehlers,
Konstadinos Kiriakoulakis,
Konstadinos Kiriakoulakis,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Pia Schuchert,
Jaimie T. A. Dick,
Jaimie T. A. Dick,
Jaimie T. A. Dick,
Jaimie T. A. Dick,
Lucy C. Woodall
Louise Kregting,
Louise Kregting,
Konstadinos Kiriakoulakis,
Konstadinos Kiriakoulakis,
Pia Schuchert,
Pia Schuchert,
Nia H. Jones,
Pia Schuchert,
Konstadinos Kiriakoulakis,
Nia H. Jones,
Pia Schuchert,
Jaimie T. A. Dick,
Konstadinos Kiriakoulakis,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Konstadinos Kiriakoulakis,
Konstadinos Kiriakoulakis,
Louise Kregting,
Louise Kregting,
Lucy C. Woodall
Konstadinos Kiriakoulakis,
Lucy C. Woodall
Konstadinos Kiriakoulakis,
Jaimie T. A. Dick,
Jaimie T. A. Dick,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Eoghan M. Cunningham,
Lucy C. Woodall
Lucy C. Woodall
Lucy C. Woodall
Lucy C. Woodall
Lucy C. Woodall
Pia Schuchert,
Pia Schuchert,
Lucy C. Woodall
Summary
Researchers assessed microplastic pollution in sediments of the Irish Sea fishing grounds used for Norway lobster harvesting, identifying seven polymer types via micro-FTIR spectroscopy and finding persistent contamination at all sampled sites across both 2016 and 2019 surveys.
Study Type
Environmental
The Irish Sea is an important area for Norway Lobster Nephrops norvegicus fisheries, which are the most valuable fishing resource in the UK. Norway lobster are known to ingest microplastic pollution present in the sediment and have displayed reduced body mass when exposed to microplastic pollution. Here, we identified microplastic pollution in the Irish Sea fishing grounds through analysis of 24 sediment samples from four sites of differing proximity to the Western Irish Sea Gyre in both 2016 and 2019. We used µFTIR spectroscopy to identify seven polymer types, and a total of 77 microplastics consisting of fibres and fragments. The mean microplastics per gram of sediment ranged from 0.13 to 0.49 and 0 to 1.17 MP/g in 2016 and 2019, respectively. There were no differences in the microplastic counts across years, and there was no correlation of microplastic counts with proximity to the Western Irish Sea Gyre. Considering the consistently high microplastic abundance found in the Irish Sea, and the propensity of N. norvegicus to ingest and be negatively impacted by them, we suggest microplastic pollution levels in the Irish Sea may have adverse impacts on N. norvegicus and negative implications for fishery sustainability in the future.