Microplastics are both pervasive in the marine environment and highly detrimental to it. In this study, we investigate the abundance, distribution, and characteristics of microplastics in surface waters on a transect spanning 6 major ocean current regions in the Atlantic Ocean from Scheveningen (the Netherlands) to Montevideo (Uruguay). 50 surface trawls were completed with a manta net (mesh 500 μm, cod 333 μm) and particles were analyzed in the laboratory including polymer type identification with ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. An overall abundance of 0.011 ± 0.017 items/m3 was found with a significant correlation between microplastic abundance and distance to coast. The dominant polymer types were HD-PE (63.5 %) and PP (28.3 %), shape was fragments (88.6 %), and color was white (59.1 %). We conclude that this study's findings reaffirm the widespread presence of microplastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean, contributing data from consistently under-sampled regions such as the South Atlantic.

中文翻译：

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南北大西洋微塑料的丰度、分布和特征


微塑料在海洋环境中无处不在，并且对海洋环境非常有害。在这项研究中，我们调查了从斯海弗宁根（荷兰）到蒙得维的亚（乌拉圭）横跨大西洋 6 个主要洋流区域的横断面上表层水中微塑料的丰度、分布和特征。使用蝠鲼网（网目 500 μm，COD 333 μm）完成 50 次表面拖网，并在实验室中分析颗粒，包括使用 ATR-FTIR 光谱法进行聚合物类型鉴定。发现总体丰度为 0.011 ± 0.017 项/m3，微塑料丰度与海岸距离之间存在显着相关性。主要聚合物类型为 HD-PE （63.5%） 和 PP （28.3%），形状为片段 （88.6%），颜色为白色 （59.1%）。我们得出的结论是，这项研究的结果再次证实了大西洋广泛存在的微塑料污染，并提供了来自南大西洋等持续采样不足地区的数据。