Microplastics in sea surface waters in the Southern Bight of the North Sea in 2022

This dataset contains 1 csv file. The dataset contains data of floating microplastic abundances including meso and macro plastics at different locations collected in the North Sea during environmental surveys on the RV Endeavour, in 2022. Microplastic abundances were reported per unit area (km-2). A flowmeter attached to the bottom of the Neuston Microplastic Catamaran trawl was used to estimate the volume of water sampled. The volume sampled was estimated following Russel and Webster (2021) (Microplastics in sea surface waters around Scotland - ScienceDirect). Form and polymer type of all three size classes (micro, meso and macroplastics) are also provided. The reporting of microlitter in surface water was done according to the recent Guidance on Monitoring of Marine Litter in European Seas (https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC133594). Microlitter types and polymer types was reported according to EMODnet. This work is part of the floating microplastic monitoring commitments Cefas has set itself. The assessment of microplastics in surface waters is used for a potential OSPAR indicator development. Samples were collected using a Microplastic Catamaran in the Southern Bight of the North Sea. In the lab larger items were removed from the sample for imaging and ATR-FTIR (Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopic) analysis. 400 ml of 30% KOH:NaClO were added and then incubated for 24 h at 40 C. Samples were settled for 1 h before filtration onto GF/D filters. Suspected particles were identified and polymer identification was carried out using a LUMOS II micro-ATR-FTIR. Spectra were collected in absorbance mode in the range 4000 - 500 cm-1 at a resolution of 4 cm-1. Polymer identification was verified based on the percentage match against provided polymer libraries. Only matches above 60% were selected for polymer identification.

搜集汇总

背景与挑战

背景概述

该数据集记录了2022年在北海南部湾海面水域的漂浮微塑料丰度数据，包括微、中、大塑料的丰度（以每平方公里报告）以及形态和聚合物类型信息。数据采集使用微塑料双体船拖网，并通过ATR-FTIR光谱分析进行聚合物识别，匹配阈值设为60%以上，旨在支持海洋垃圾监测和OSPAR指标开发。数据集覆盖2022年11月底的短期调查，由Cefas发布，适用于海洋环境管理和研究用途。