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The presence of microplastics on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and in Rio Almendares, Havana
Summary
This study investigated the presence of microplastics in marine sediments on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and in Cuba's Rio Almendares, finding microplastic particles at both sites despite their different characteristics. The results contribute to growing evidence that marine sediments are a major sink for plastic pollution.
Microplastics are becoming more frequently detected in all natural environments worldwide as global demand for plastic production continues to rise and studies related to microplastic research are becoming more prevalent. Marine sediments are hypothesized by many researchers to be a major sink for microplastics as they will sink to the ocean floor over time due to size and density modifications in open waters. Microplastic research has become a stimulated topic receiving increasing attention globally. To this date, there is no standard analytical protocol for microplastic quantifications and identification, leading to dissimilarities in methods and less comparability between studies. This thesis investigates two separate benthic sediments, one being deep-sea sediments from the Norwegian Continental Shelf and the other river sediment from Rio Almendares (Cuba). Sediment samples were investigated for microplastic using density separation, purification, and polymer identifications practicing both visual analysis and FTIR analysis.