Microplastics (i.e. plastic fragments <5 mm in diameter) are a widespread form of contamination in marine ecosystems around the globe (Moore 2008). Coastal ecosystems, such as inshore coral reefs, are likely to be particularly heavily impacted by microplastics because these contaminants often enter the marine environment through fragmentation of larger plastic items from terrestrial sources (Th...

A total of 24 German beer brands was analysed for the contents of microplastic fibres, fragments and granular material. In all cases contamination was found. Counts ranged from 2 to 79 fibres L(-1), from 12 to 109 fragments L(-1) and from 2 to 66 granules L(-1). The results show a high variability between individual samples and samples from different production dates. Possible sources of this c...

Introduction and background The presence of microplastic particles (<5mm, MP) in the environment is a problem of growing concern. While research has focused on MP occurrence and impacts in the marine environment, very little is known about their release on land, storage in soils and sediments and transport by run-off and rivers (Nizzetto, 2016). Especially the transport behaviour with involved ...

Plastic waste is a pervasive feature of marine environments, yet little is empirically known about the biological and physical processes that transport plastics through marine ecosystems. To address this need, we conducted in situ feeding studies of microplastic particles (10 to 600 μm in diameter) with the giant larvacean Bathochordaeus stygius. Larvaceans are abundant components of global zoo...

Marine plastic debris, including microplastic debris (0.315-5mm) and large plastic debris (>5mm), was collected from 25 beaches in Hong Kong during a wet summer season (June-August 2014) and the following dry winter season (January-March 2015). Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to compare the abundances and weights of seven categories of plastic debris between the two seasons. The results sh...

Larn ed D ico u res Intent. The intent of Learned Discourses is to provide a forum for open discussion. These articles reflect the professional opinions of the authors regarding scientific issues. They do not represent SETAC positions or policies. And, although they are subject to editorial review for clarity, consistency, and brevity, these articles are not peer reviewed. The Learned Discourse...

Although widely detected in marine ecosystems, microplastic pollution has only recently been documented in freshwater environments, almost exclusively in surface waters. Here, we report microplastics (polyethylene microbeads, 0.40– 2.16 mm diameter) in the sediments of the St. Lawrence River. We sampled 10 freshwater sites along a 320 km section from Lake St. Francis to Québec City by passing s...

Biogeosciences Discussions This discussion paper is/has been under review for the journal Biogeosciences (BG). Please refer to the corresponding final paper in BG if available. Abstract Given the complexity of quantitative collection, knowledge of the distribution of mi-croplastic pollution in many regions of the world ocean is patchy, both spatially and temporally, especially for the subsurfac...