Role of saltmarsh systems in estuarine trapping of microplastics.

Saltmarshes are important natural ecosystems along many temperate (and other) coastlines. They stabilize sediments and act as biofilters for a range of industrial pollutants and, potentially, microplastics. Accumulation of microplastics along estuarine coastlines may be enhanced by the presence of saltmarsh species, as they offer better particle trapping efficiency than adjacent intertidal mudflats under prevailing flood and ebb tidal currents.