title: Distribution and quantity of microplastic on sandy beaches along the northern coast of Taiwan.
abstract: Plastic pollution is now ubiquitous in the world's oceans, and studies have shown macroplastic and microplastic pollution of beaches in several East Asian countries. However, to our knowledge, no study of microplastic pollution has been conducted in Taiwan yet. Therefore, we collected sand samples from four beaches along the northern coast of Taiwan in 2015 and extracted microplastic particles using a saturated NaCl solution. Microplastic particles were identified using synchrotron-based FTIR spectroscopy. We recovered 4 to 532 particles from eight 0.0125m(3) samples, with a total of 1097 particles weighing 0.771g. A negative trend between the size of the particles and their numbers was documented. We thus established that microplastic pollution was ubiquitous along Taiwan's northern coast. Future research should more comprehensively sample beaches around the entirety of Taiwan's coast, and special emphasis should be placed on identifying different sources and movements of microplastic.
authors.affiliation: National Taiwan University, Department of Geosciences, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: a.kunz96@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kunz
authors.affiliation: Master Program in Global Health and Development, College of Public Health and Nutrition, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing St., Taipei 110, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: bawalther2009@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bruno A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Walther
authors.affiliation: National Taiwan University, Department of Geosciences, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: loewemark@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ludvig
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Löwemark
authors.affiliation: National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, X-ray and IR imaging group, No. 101, Hsin-Ann road, Hsinchu Science Park, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: yclee@nsrrc.org.tw.
authors.forename: Yao-Chang
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D010969:Plastics; D013624:Taiwan; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Beach; FTIR spectroscopy; Microplastic; Pellet; Taiwan