Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

Microplastics spatiotemporal distribution and variability in marine habitats along the North-Western Mediterranean coastal waters.

Researchers assessed microplastic spatiotemporal distribution across multiple Mediterranean marine habitat types including water surface, sediment, and biota, revealing significant variability by location and season. The multi-compartment approach showed that no single habitat type captures the full extent of microplastic contamination.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Novel methodology approach for assessing microplastic distribution in marine habitats along the Spanish Western Mediterranean coast

Researchers developed an innovative integrative methodology to assess spatiotemporal variation in microplastic abundance across sea surface and sediment habitats along the Spanish Western Mediterranean coast from 2017 to 2024, characterising distribution patterns at multiple spatial scales.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Mediterranean Sea: Deposition in coastal shallow sediments, spatial variation and preferential grain size

Researchers sampled Mediterranean coastal shallow sediments and found microplastics throughout, with concentrations and polymer types reflecting land-based inputs and showing that coastal sediments are a significant regional reservoir for plastic debris.

2016 Marine Environmental Research 617 citations
Article Tier 2

An evaluation of surface micro- and mesoplastic pollution in pelagic ecosystems of the Western Mediterranean Sea

Researchers found that micro- and mesoplastic debris were widely and uniformly distributed across the Western Mediterranean Sea, with average surface concentrations of approximately 130,000 microplastic particles per km2 and 5,700 mesoplastic particles per km2. Fragment morphology and polymer composition analysis indicated a predominantly land-based origin for the debris.

2015 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 173 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the Mediterranean: Variability From Observations and Model Analysis

Researchers combined field sampling across four Mediterranean coastal areas with hydrodynamic and particle drift modeling to characterize microplastic abundance, size, and polymer type variability, finding that wastewater and river inputs drive spatial patterns of surface MP distribution.

2022 Frontiers in Marine Science 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Distribution and characterization of microplastics in the coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea

Researchers investigated the distribution and characterization of microplastics in coastal surface waters of the Mediterranean Sea as part of the MICROPLASMED project, examining the relationship between microplastic pollution levels and the composition of marine microbiomes as potential biological indicators. Surface water samples were collected across Mediterranean sites to characterize microplastic abundance and assess how varying pollution levels influence microbial community diversity and abundance.

2024 Florence Research (University of Florence)
Article Tier 2

From inshore to offshore: distribution of microplastics in three Italian seawaters

Researchers surveyed microplastic concentrations across coastal to offshore areas in three Italian seas, finding heterogeneous distributions of 6,069 particles with differences between surface and subsurface water layers, providing data to support EU marine monitoring programs.

2022 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Beached microplastics in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea

Researchers investigated microplastic occurrence on two beaches in the Northwestern Mediterranean Gulf of Lion, finding significant concentrations of fragments and pellets in beach sediments with notable variation between beach zones and sampling periods over a one-month interval.

2019 Marine Pollution Bulletin 122 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics Baseline Surveys at the Water Surface and in Sediments of the North-East Atlantic

Researchers measured microplastic concentrations at the sea surface and in sediments across the southern North Sea and northwestern Europe, finding highly variable but widespread contamination. Sediments contained far higher concentrations than surface waters, confirming that the seafloor acts as a major sink for microplastic pollution.

2017 Frontiers in Marine Science 308 citations
Article Tier 2

Evolution of the Distribution and Dynamic of Microplastic in Water and Biota: A Study Case From the Gulf of Gabes (Southern Mediterranean Sea)

Researchers found microplastics in all surface water samples and in the digestive tracts of multiple commercially important marine species in the Gulf of Gabes, Southern Mediterranean, revealing widespread contamination in a previously understudied region.

2022 Frontiers in Marine Science 23 citations
Article Tier 2

First full investigation of levels of microplastics on sandy beaches in Malta

This study conducted the first comprehensive survey of microplastic levels on sandy beaches in Malta, finding microplastics at all five sampled beaches including in protected coastal areas. The results establish baseline contamination levels for the central Mediterranean and document seasonal and spatial variability.

2017 OAR@UM (University of Malta) 2 citations
Article Tier 2

A multi-compartment assessment from surface waters to sediments of microplastic pollution in the southern Mediterranean sea: A case study of BouIsmail Bay, Algeria

Researchers investigated the spatial distribution, abundance, and characteristics of microplastics in surface water and seafloor sediments at multiple coastal and offshore stations in BouIsmail Bay on Algeria's southern Mediterranean coast during summer 2023, using KOH digestion and density separation for extraction. The multi-compartment assessment found polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene as the most common polymers with fragments dominant in surface waters and fibers dominant in sediments, providing new baseline data for the under-characterised southern Mediterranean.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin
Article Tier 2

Changes in (micro and macro) plastic pollution in the sediment of three sandy beaches in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, in relation to seasonality, beach use and granulometry

Researchers measured plastic and microplastic pollution in sediment from three Mediterranean beaches across seasons, finding that smaller microplastics accumulate at the backshore while larger items concentrate near the waterline. Seasonal patterns and beach use intensity affected plastic abundance, with implications for beach management and cleanup strategies.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Breaking the paradigm: Marine sediments hold two-fold microplastics than sea surface waters and are dominated by fibers

Researchers found that Mediterranean marine sediments contain approximately twice the microplastic concentration of sea surface waters, with fibers dominating across all habitats, challenging the paradigm that surface waters are the primary marine microplastic reservoir.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 92 citations
Article Tier 2

Seasonal variation of microplastics density in Algerian surface waters (South-Western Mediterranean Sea)

Researchers monitored seasonal variation in microplastic density in Algerian surface waters of the south-western Mediterranean Sea, documenting temporal patterns in microplastic concentrations in an understudied region of the Mediterranean.

2021 Mediterranean Marine Science 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Mapping microplastic overlap between marine compartments and biodiversity in a Mediterranean marine protected area

Researchers mapped microplastic distribution across water, sediment, and biota in a Mediterranean marine protected area, revealing significant overlap between microplastic hotspots and biodiversity-rich zones, raising concerns about ecological impacts in supposedly protected habitats.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating Microplastics in the Mediterranean Coastal Areas – Case Study of Al-Hoceima Bay, Morocco

Researchers investigated microplastic presence and distribution in the semi-enclosed Al-Hoceima Bay, Morocco, characterizing contamination patterns in Mediterranean coastal waters affected by anthropogenic activities along the coastline.

2023 Journal of Ecological Engineering 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic distribution in surface sediments along the Spanish Mediterranean continental shelf

Researchers found microplastic contamination in coastal sediments along the Spanish Mediterranean continental shelf between Algeciras and Barcelona, with densities ranging from below detection limits to 1,380 particles per kilogram dry weight, predominantly fibers and fragments.

2019 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 103 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence and spatial distribution of microplastics in sediments from Norderney

Researchers surveyed sediments from Norderney in the North Sea and found widespread microplastic contamination, documenting spatial distribution patterns and particle characteristics across this tidally influenced coastal environment.

2014 Environmental Pollution 608 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessment of microplastics distribution and stratification in the shallow marine sediments of Samos island, Eastern Mediterranean sea, Greece

Researchers surveyed microplastic distribution in shallow marine sediments around Samos Island, Greece, finding the highest concentrations on beaches and lower levels in deeper offshore sediments. The study suggests that beaches act as accumulation zones for microplastic pollution carried from land.

2019 Mediterranean Marine Science 29 citations