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Microplastic contamination and characteristics spatially vary in the southern Black Sea beach sediment and sea surface water
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Microplastic abundance and characteristics were assessed along the southern Black Sea coastline, finding that over 70% of particles were smaller than 2.5 mm, with average concentrations of 64 particles/kg in beach sediment and 18.68 particles/m3 in seawater, and the Marmara region showing highest pollution.
In this study, the abundance, and characteristics of the microplastics on the southern coast of the Black Sea were assessed. More than 70% of the detected microplastics were smaller than 2.5 mm and mostly consisted of fibers and fragments. The average microplastic abundance in the beach sediment and seawater were 64.06 ± 8.95 particles/kg and 18.68 ± 3.01 particles/m, respectively. The western coast of the study area (Marmara region) was the most polluted area, and a spatially significant difference was determined in terms of abundance. The composition in the beach sediment (particles/kg) was dominated by styrene acrylonitrile copolymer (SAC) (40.53%), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (38.75%), and polyethylene (PE) (6.91%), whereas the seawater (particles/m) was dominated by PET (57.26%), PE (13.52%), and polypropylene PP (11.24%). The results of our study can be a baseline for environmental modeling studies and experimental studies on the marine organisms inhabiting the Black Sea.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.