Spatiotemporal distribution, source identification and inventory of microplastics in surface sediments from Sanggou Bay, China

Abstract Microplastic pollution has become a major global environmental issue. Yet the source identification and inventory of microplastics in mariculture areas remain unclear. Here we investigated the spatiotemporal distribution, source and inventory of microplastics in surface sediments from Sanggou Bay, China. The results showed that average abundance of microplastics in the surface sediments was 1674 ± 526 items/kg dry weight, which represented a heavy level when compared with other sea areas, including coastal waters, estuaries, the open sea and other mariculture areas. Microplastics with a size of