Microplastics in marine water along the Tyrrhenian coast

The Institute for the Study of Anthropic Impact and Sustainability in the Marine Environment (IAS)of the National Research Council (CNR), hereafter CNR-IAS, has been involved, in collaboration with UNIVPM-Università Politecnica delle Marche, between May and September of 2019, in the "MAYDAY SOS Plastica'' campaign promoted by Greenpeace Italia, focused on the monitoring of plastic contamination in the Mediterranean Sea with a focus on Tyrrhenian coasts. The scope has been to gather direct data and testimonies on pollution from plastic that affects our seas and to inform public opinion about this serious problem. This tour has several goals to achieve: A. Establish the extent of microplastics (MPs) pollution in the Mediterranean Sea along the Italian Coast, investigating three different marine compartments: water column (surface and deeper layers), seabed and organisms. B. Investigate possible spots of accumulation C. Analyze polymeric composition of particles present in the three compartments D. Produce data to support the standardization and harmonization of the existing protocols to isolate and detect microplastics in water and marine organisms to enable accurate quantification, qualification and comparison between studies. E. Test a new method to collect samples with the scope to analyse the possible content of MPs in the water column. The present report presents the results of the campaigns. Analysis have been performed at the laboratory of CNR- IAS (Genoa, Italy).