Abundance, composition and spatial distribution of microplastics on Korean sand beaches

Abstract

Microplastics are widespread and ubiquitous in the marine environment. Potential ofmicroplastic ingestion by marine organisms increases with decreasing microplastic size.Contamination level of microplastics in various marine compartment are widely reported inthe world, but limited information is available in Korean beaches. The distribution andcomposition of microplastics were investigated in sediments collected from twenty beachesalong the coast of Korea. Three lines parallel to shoreline were selected at a beach, and fourquadrats (0.5 × 0.5 m) were randomly placed in each line. Sand in a quadrat in depth of 2.5cm was scooped and sieved using 1 and 5 mm mesh metal sieves. Solid materials includingplastics in 1-5 mm size range and < 1 mm were separately stored for further analysis.Abundance of large microplastics (L-MP, 1-5 mm in size) was in the range of 0-2,102particles/㎡. The mean abundance of L-MP was 432 ± 624 particles/㎡ for the South coast,132 ± 199 particles/㎡ for the West coast, 6 ± 10 particles/㎡ for the East coast. Wahyunbeach at Geoje showed the highest abundance (2,102 particles/㎡), and it was followed byGosung (555 particles/㎡) and Ansan (527 particles/㎡). The relatively low abundances of 0-2particles/㎡ were found in Gangneung, Sokcho and Uljin in northern part of the East coast.Expanded polystyrene (EPS) beads accounted for 93% in total abundance of L-MP. Small are widely reported inthe world, but limited information is available in Korean beaches. The distribution andcomposition of microplastics were investigated in sediments collected from twenty beachesalong the coast of Korea. Three lines parallel to shoreline were selected at a beach, and fourquadrats (0.5 × 0.5 m) were randomly placed in each line. Sand in a quadrat in depth of 2.5cm was scooped and sieved using 1 and 5 mm mesh metal sieves. Solid materials includingplastics in 1-5 mm size range and < 1 mm were separately stored for further analysis.Abundance of large microplastics (L-MP, 1-5 mm in size) was in the range of 0-2,102particles/㎡. The mean abundance of L-MP was 432 ± 624 particles/㎡ for the South coast,132 ± 199 particles/㎡ for the West coast, 6 ± 10 particles/㎡ for the East coast. Wahyunbeach at Geoje showed the highest abundance (2,102 particles/㎡), and it was followed byGosung (555 particles/㎡) and Ansan (527 particles/㎡). The relatively low abundances of 0-2particles/㎡ were found in Gangneung, Sokcho and Uljin in northern part of the East coast.Expanded polystyrene (EPS) beads accounted for 93% in total abundance of L-MP. Small