First report of occurrence, distribution, and composition of microplastics in surface waters of the Sea of Marmara, Turkey

Plastic is produced today in large quantities and used for many purposes. At the end of use, a large part of it gets into the environment, often into the sea and there it is fragmented into the smallest fragments, so-called microplastic (MP). MPs pose a serious challenge to the marine environment su...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2018-10, Vol.135, p.283-289
Main Authors: Tunçer, Sezginer, Artüz, O. Bülent, Demirkol, Mustafa, Artüz, M. Levent
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic Organisms - drug effects
Aquatic Organisms - growth & development
Composition
Debris
Environmental Monitoring
Litter
Marine litter
Microplastic
Microplastics
Oceans
Plastics
Plastics - chemistry
Plastics - toxicity
Sea of Marmara
Space debris
Surface water
Surface waters
Turkey
Turkish Straits
Water Pollutants, Chemical - chemistry
Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity
Water Pollution, Chemical
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Summary:Plastic is produced today in large quantities and used for many purposes. At the end of use, a large part of it gets into the environment, often into the sea and there it is fragmented into the smallest fragments, so-called microplastic (MP). MPs pose a serious challenge to the marine environment such as the sources and properties of MP particles, their impact on marine organisms, and the challenges of environmental pollution. This work, carried out in the fourteen sites in the area, is the first reference to the detection of MP distribution at surface waters in the Sea of Marmara, Turkey. As a result of this study, the average level of MP in the surface was determined to be 1.263 item/m2. The results were higher compared of the most other adjacent regions and show that the Sea of Marmara started to face that problem. •First study on microplastic in the Sea of Marmara surface waters•Case study from the highly human impacted Sea of Marmara•Surface microplastic concentration was found to be quite high.•We show the current situation of surface MPs concentration of Sea of Marmara.
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.06.054