title: The Mediterranean Plastic Soup: synthetic polymers in Mediterranean surface waters.
abstract: The Mediterranean Sea has been recently proposed as one of the most impacted regions of the world with regards to microplastics, however the polymeric composition of these floating particles is still largely unknown. Here we present the results of a large-scale survey of neustonic micro- and meso-plastics floating in Mediterranean waters, providing the first extensive characterization of their chemical identity as well as detailed information on their abundance and geographical distribution. All particles >700 μm collected in our samples were identified through FT-IR analysis (n = 4050 particles), shedding for the first time light on the polymeric diversity of this emerging pollutant. Sixteen different classes of synthetic materials were identified. Low-density polymers such as polyethylene and polypropylene were the most abundant compounds, followed by polyamides, plastic-based paints, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene and polyvinyl alcohol. Less frequent polymers included polyethylene terephthalate, polyisoprene, poly(vinyl stearate), ethylene-vinyl acetate, polyepoxide, paraffin wax and polycaprolactone, a biodegradable polyester reported for the first time floating in off-shore waters. Geographical differences in sample composition were also observed, demonstrating sub-basin scale heterogeneity in plastics distribution and likely reflecting a complex interplay between pollution sources, sinks and residence times of different polymers at sea.
authors.affiliation: CNR-ISMAR, Pozzuolo di Lerici - La Spezia, Italy.|Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Baleares, Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Suaria
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente (DiSVA), Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Avio
authors.affiliation: CNR-ISMAR, Pozzuolo di Lerici - La Spezia, Italy.
authors.forename: Annabella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mineo
authors.affiliation: Algalita Marine Research and Education, Long Beach, California, USA.
authors.forename: Gwendolyn L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Lattin
authors.affiliation: CNR-ISMAR, Pozzuolo di Lerici - La Spezia, Italy.|Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Marcello G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Magaldi
authors.affiliation: Universita' del Salento, DiSTeBA, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Genuario
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Belmonte
authors.affiliation: Algalita Marine Research and Education, Long Beach, California, USA.
authors.forename: Charles J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente (DiSVA), Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.|CoNISMa, Consorzio Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Regoli
authors.affiliation: CNR-ISMAR, Pozzuolo di Lerici - La Spezia, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aliani