Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Delving into South China Sea microplastic pollution: Abundance, composition, and environmental risk

Researchers characterized microplastic abundance, composition, and environmental risk across four typical islands in the South China Sea, filling a knowledge gap in a region of high ecological and fisheries importance. The study found significant microplastic contamination with polymer types and concentrations posing measurable ecological risk to the archipelago's marine ecosystems.

2024 Marine Pollution Bulletin 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic debris in the open ocean

Researchers collected and characterized plastic debris floating in the open ocean far from coastlines, documenting its abundance, polymer composition, and size distribution, providing early baseline data on the open-ocean plastic pollution problem.

2014 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2990 citations
Article Tier 2

Seasonal Distribution, Composition, and Inventory of Plastic Debris on the Yugang Park Beach in Zhanjiang Bay, South China Sea

Researchers surveyed seasonal distribution and composition of plastic debris at Yugang Park Beach in South China Sea, finding significant variation across seasons and tidal zones, with single-use plastics from tourism and fishing activities as the primary sources.

2022 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence of microplastics in the seawater and atmosphere of the South China Sea: Pollution patterns and interrelationship

Researchers investigated microplastic pollution in both seawater and the atmosphere of the South China Sea, revealing distribution patterns and an interrelationship between marine and airborne microplastic contamination in the region.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 37 citations
Article Tier 2

Preliminary study of the source apportionment and diversity of microplastics: Taking floating microplastics in the South China Sea as an example

Researchers developed a source-specific classification system for floating microplastics in the South China Sea, analyzing surface water samples to estimate contributions from different land-based and ocean-based sources. The work advances understanding of which human activities contribute most to microplastic pollution in this heavily trafficked sea.

2018 Environmental Pollution 357 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic debris (> 500µm) concentration gradient detected across the Southwest Indian Ocean

Researchers investigated plastic debris concentration and composition across the Southwest Indian Ocean using 19 oceanographic campaigns and 153 uninhabited beach surveys, identifying a gradient in floating macroplastic distribution and characterizing the sources and polymer types of 101,055 litter items.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution in North Yellow Sea, China: Observations on occurrence, distribution and identification

Researchers surveyed microplastic pollution across the North Yellow Sea, documenting their occurrence, distribution, and characteristics, and finding widespread contamination with higher concentrations in coastal areas and near river inputs.

2018 The Science of The Total Environment 412 citations
Article Tier 2

Taking a mass-balance approach to assess marine plastics in the South China Sea

Researchers applied a mass-balance modeling approach to assess marine plastic pollution in the South China Sea, finding critical data gaps on plastic inputs, transfer rates, and sink terms that prevent accurate quantification of this recognized global plastic hotspot.

2021 Marine Pollution Bulletin 48 citations
Article Tier 2

Spatial Distribution and Composition of Surface Microplastics in the Southwestern South China Sea

Researchers investigated the spatial distribution, morphology, and polymer composition of surface microplastics in the southwestern South China Sea during a 2018 cruise, finding an average abundance of 0.072 particles/m3 with fibers and fragments dominating, and PET, PVC, and cellophane as the most prevalent polymers, with higher concentrations near the Nansha Islands.

2022 Frontiers in Marine Science 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic waste occurrence on a beach off southwestern Luzon, Philippines

Researchers documented plastic waste on a beach in southwestern Luzon, Philippines, finding high levels of macroplastic litter and establishing baseline microplastic contamination data for a country identified as one of the largest contributors of plastic waste to the ocean.

2019 Marine Pollution Bulletin 82 citations
Article Tier 2

A perspective study on occurance, impacts and sources of microplastics in the marine environment of south China Sea and Gulf of Thailand

A synthesis of published data on microplastics in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand identified the Pearl River and Mekong River as major plastic inputs, with the Gulf of Thailand showing medium plastic abundance levels, and called for improved management strategies for these sensitive regions.

2023 Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment 3 citations
Article Tier 2

[Distribution Characteristics of Microplastics in Surface Water and Sediments of Haizhou Bay, Lianyungang].

Researchers characterized microplastic pollution in surface water and sediments of Haizhou Bay, a small-to-medium-sized inshore bay in Lianyungang, China, documenting the main polymer types, abundances, and spatial distribution patterns to fill a gap in knowledge about microplastics in smaller Chinese coastal environments.

2020 PubMed 20 citations
Article Tier 2

A review of microplastic pollution in seawater, sediments and organisms of the Chinese coastal and marginal seas

This review compiled microplastic abundance and characteristics data from seawater, sediments, and marine organisms across China's coastal and marginal seas, finding widespread contamination linked to China's extensive plastic production and mismanaged waste streams.

2021 Chemosphere 211 citations
Article Tier 2

Spatiotemporal characterisation of microplastics in the coastal regions of Singapore

Researchers characterized the spatiotemporal distribution of microplastics along Singapore's coastal waters, finding fragments as the dominant type at 70%, with higher concentrations at the surface and polymer compositions including polyethylene and polypropylene.

2023 Heliyon 34 citations
Article Tier 2

The spatial distribution of microplastic in the sands of a coral reef island in the South China Sea: Comparisons of the fringing reef and atoll

Microplastic abundance in coral reef island sands of the South China Sea was measured at fringing reef sites (90–530 items/kg) and atoll sites (60–610 items/kg), with the lower-human-activity Xisha Islands atoll showing higher concentrations attributed to oceanic current accumulation. The study reveals that even remote coral reef ecosystems are contaminated with microplastics and that oceanographic factors can outweigh local human activity.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 74 citations
Article Tier 2

Distribution and characteristics of microplastics in the tidal flats of Sanya Bay, China

Microplastic distribution was characterized at 10 sampling sites in the tidal flats of Sanya Bay, finding widespread contamination with polyethylene and polypropylene fragments as the dominant types. The study provides baseline data for assessing microplastic risks to intertidal marine organisms in a tropical bay ecosystem.

2023 Journal of marine environmental engineering 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic pollution in deep seafloor of the South China Sea

Researchers documented the abundance, distribution, and transport of plastics in the South China Sea using over 100 manned submersible dives combined with video analysis, finding that large plastics concentrate in canyon geomorphological units while microplastics predominate in coastal sediments via distinct transport mechanisms.

2024
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Contamination on the Beaches of South China

Researchers surveyed microplastic contamination across 14 beaches along the South China coast, finding microplastics ubiquitously present in sandy sediments, predominantly as small fragments under 1 mm, with distribution patterns linked to coastal urbanization and ocean current dynamics.

2022 Frontiers in Marine Science 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the surface waters of the South China sea and the western Pacific Ocean: Different size classes reflecting various sources and transport

Researchers investigated microplastic distribution in the South China Sea and western Pacific Ocean, finding that different size classes reflect distinct sources and transport mechanisms, with higher concentrations in the northern South China Sea linked to riverine inputs.

2022 Chemosphere 85 citations
Article Tier 2

Abundance And Distribution Of Plastic Debris In Beach Sediment And Seawater Of The Northern Straits Of Malacca

Researchers surveyed the abundance and distribution of macro-, meso-, and microplastic debris in beach sediments and seawater along the Northern Straits of Malacca in Malaysia, providing baseline contamination data relevant to the country's national roadmap toward reducing single-use plastics.

2024 Padova Digital University Archive (Ateneo di Padova)
Article Tier 2

Occurrence of Microplastic Pollution in the Beibu Gulf, the Northern South China Sea

Researchers found microplastics in both surface water (0.67 items/m3) and sediment (4.33 items/kg dry weight) of the Beibu Gulf in the northern South China Sea, with polystyrene fragments dominating in seawater and a different polymer composition in sediment. The study characterized microplastic occurrence in a region with intensive fishery activity but relatively less economic development compared to other Chinese coastal areas.

2022 Frontiers in Marine Science 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Distribution and environmental risk assessment of microplastics in continental shelf sediments in the southern East China Sea: A high-spatial-resolution survey

Researchers conducted a high-spatial-resolution survey of microplastics in surface sediments across the southern East China Sea continental shelf, finding omnipresent contamination dominated by polyethylene fibers and fragments, with concentrations elevated near urban coastal areas.

2022 Marine Pollution Bulletin 39 citations
Article Tier 2

Baseline assessment of microplastics pollution in beach sediments along tropical coastline (Kuala Langat, Malaysia)

Researchers conducted baseline assessments of microplastic pollution in beach sediments along tropical coastlines, documenting particle abundance, morphology, and polymer composition at sites with varying levels of human activity to establish reference conditions.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Distribution of Microplastics in Sediments of The Northern Natuna Sea

Researchers sampled sediments from eight stations in the Northern Natuna Sea and identified 258 microplastic particles ranging from 400 to 1020 pieces/kg dry weight. Fibers and fragments dominated, with transparent and black particles most common, providing baseline contamination data for this understudied region of the South China Sea.

2025 Jurnal Ilmiah Perikanan dan Kelautan