Abundance, distribution and characteristics of microplastics in the North and South Atlantic Ocean.

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.