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Abundance and composition of near surface microplastics and plastic debris in the Stockholm Archipelago, Baltic Sea
Summary
This study combined professional manta trawl sampling and citizen science transect surveys to characterize microplastic abundance and composition in the Stockholm Archipelago and Baltic Sea. The results provide baseline data on plastic contamination in Baltic surface waters and demonstrate that citizen science can complement formal monitoring efforts.
We collected plastic debris in the Stockholm Archipelago using a manta trawl, and additionally along a transect in the Baltic Sea from the island of Gotland to Stockholm in a citizen science study. The samples were concentrated by filtration and organic material was digested using hydrogen peroxide. Suspected plastic material was isolated by visual sorting and 59 of these were selected to be characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Polypropylene and polyethylene were the most abundant plastics identified among the samples (53% and 24% respectively). We found nearly ten times higher abundance of plastics near central Stockholm than in offshore areas (4.2×105plastics km-2 compared to 4.7×104plastics km-2). The abundance of plastic debris near Stockholm was similar to urban areas in California, USA, and the overall abundance in the Stockholm Archipelago was similar to plastic abundance reported in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea.