Micro- and mesoplastics in sea surface water from a Northern Adriatic coastal area

Abstract

The presence of microplastics in the sea is a global issue widely studied and discussed in the last years. The whole marine ecosystem is now considered at high risk because of their presence and abundance in every studied environment all over the world because polymeric materials commonly constitute the main raw materials in contemporary industrial production. The presented study reports the results obtained from surface seawater monitoring of two sampling transects in the coastal area close to the Venice Lagoon (Italy) inlet, investigated in order to get new information about the presence and relevance of plastic pollution. Plastic particles collected by means of a manta net (0.3-mm mesh size) have been characterized in detail by utilizing a multi-technique approach in order to discriminate them by typology, dimension, colour, spatial density and chemical composition. Such information permitted the individuation of subgroups (specific groups) of plastic micro-debris in this Northern Adriatic area.