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

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

Researchers mapped microplastic distribution across multiple marine habitat types along the Mediterranean coast, examining spatial and temporal variability from the water surface to the sediment. The study revealed that microplastic abundance and composition differ substantially by habitat, underscoring the need for multi-compartment monitoring.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
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

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

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

The occurrence of microplastic contamination in littoral sediments of the Persian Gulf, Iran

Researchers surveyed littoral sediments of the Persian Gulf for microplastics, finding plastic particles across all sampling sites with a variety of polymer types. The study provides early baseline contamination data for a region with major petrochemical and industrial activity.

2017 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 202 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
Article Tier 2

The Mediterranean Plastic Soup: synthetic polymers in Mediterranean surface waters

Researchers collected surface water samples from across the Mediterranean Sea and identified the types and abundance of floating plastic polymers, finding that this semi-enclosed sea has accumulated substantial plastic debris.

2016 Scientific Reports 748 citations
Article Tier 2

First assessment of microplastics in offshore sediments along the Lebanese coast, South-Eastern Mediterranean

Researchers conducted the first assessment of microplastic contamination in offshore sediments along the Lebanese coast in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea, characterizing particle abundance, morphology, size distribution, and polymer types. The study found measurable microplastic concentrations in all sampled sediment sites, contributing baseline data to fill a geographic gap in Mediterranean microplastic research.

2022 Marine Pollution Bulletin 14 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

Microplastic beaching dependence on sediment grain size

Researchers sampled microplastics across a Mediterranean protected beach and found that accumulation is strongly influenced by sediment grain size — fine-grained sands trap more surface microplastics due to lower infiltration capacity — while fiber shape promotes entanglement in sediment pores and proximity to tourism and port activities drives spatial pollution hotspots.

2026 Frontiers in Water
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

The broad-scale microplastic distribution in surface water and sediments along Northeastern Mediterranean shoreline

Researchers surveyed microplastic distribution in surface water and sediments along 47 stations of the Turkish northeastern Mediterranean coast, finding widespread contamination with fibers and fragments detected via Nile Red staining, and identifying hotspots linked to coastal urbanization and river inputs.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 38 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics levels, size, morphology and composition in marine water, sediments and sand beaches. Case study of Tarragona coast (western Mediterranean)

Researchers measured microplastic levels, sizes, shapes, and polymer types in coastal water, sediment, and beach sand along the Tarragona coast of the western Mediterranean, finding widespread contamination associated with nearby industrial facilities and a major petrochemical complex.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 123 citations
Article Tier 2

Presence, Spatial Distribution, and Characteristics of Microplastics in Beach Sediments Along the Northwestern Moroccan Mediterranean Coast

Researchers surveyed fourteen beaches along the northwestern Moroccan Mediterranean coast and found microplastics in every sediment sample, averaging about 59 particles per kilogram of dry sand. Fibers were the dominant shape at nearly 78%, with tourism, fishing, and wastewater discharges identified as the most likely pollution sources. The findings indicate moderate but widespread microplastic contamination along this coastline.

2025 Water 8 citations
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

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

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

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