Plastic pollution monitoring programs use a wide array of methods, protocols, and analytical approaches, making it difficult for researchers and practitioners to determine which techniques to apply, where, and how. This lack of harmonisation across environmental compartments and plastic size classes has led to inconsistent data and limited comparability across studies. To address this, a systematic review of monitoring methods from 1960 to 2021 was conducted, encompassing both peer-reviewed and grey literature. Techniques were categorised into Reproducible Analytical Pipelines (RAPs), each comprising six core steps: survey design, sample collection, sample preparation, analytical detection, quantification, and data reporting. Each RAP was assessed using Technological Readiness Levels (TRLs) to evaluate maturity and suitability for standardised monitoring. The review revealed that while robust and repeatable methods exist, they are inconsistently applied. At the time of this review, atmospheric plastics was underrepresented, highlighting a critical gap in monitoring efforts. The findings underscore the urgent need for a global, objective framework to guide the selection and implementation of plastic pollution monitoring methodologies. This paper lays the foundation for such a framework by presenting a methodology to identify mature, reproducible methods and prioritise areas for further development. Future work should focus on harmonising protocols across compartments and size classes, improving transparency in data reporting, and building consensus around standardised practices to enable global comparability and policy relevance.

Ships of opportunity provide a platform to assess marine pollution without dedicated field campaigns, offering a cost-effective means to expand monitoring coverage. In this study, a microplastic sampling module was integrated into an existing FerryBox system on a commercial ferry (M/S Color Fantasy) operating between Oslo (Norway) and Kiel (Germany). This setup enabled routine acquisition of samples in the Skagerrak and Kattegat areas. Between 2019 and 2022, 39 subsurface samples were collected using an underway pump-based FerryBox module and a filter cascade targeting particles larger than 100 μm, with an average of 7500 L of water filtered. Observed levels of microplastics ranged from not detected to 3.38 items/m3 (average 1.24 items/m3). No correlations were observed between seasonality, environmental parameters and microplastic concentration, indicating that while baseline levels were established, hotspots or environmental drivers could not be identified within this dataset. The study shows how methodological choices - such as spatial coverage, sampled volume, filter mesh size, and laboratory processing protocols - influenced reported concentrations and data comparability. Despite these limitations, resulting concentrations were within the same order of magnitude as other subsurface pump-based investigations, supporting the reliability of the approach. The FerryBox proved versatile and affordable, demonstrating its potential for integration into monitoring programmes. To maximise value of such databases, future efforts should prioritise methodological harmonisation and validation, as inconsistent sampling and analytical protocols currently limit cross-study comparability and hinder detection of broader regional trends. Addressing these issues will ensure datasets are fit-for-purpose and support robust regional and international comparisons.

The growing diversity of extraction and digestion procedures hinders microplastic data comparability, highlighting the need for harmonized methodologies across environmental matrices. Reference materials and interlaboratory comparison studies are important tools to support QA/QC of methods and data. To assess the resistance of microplastics to commonly applied sample preparation procedures, six polymers (polypropylene - PP, polyethylene - PE, polystyrene - PS, polyvinyl chloride - PVC, polyethylene terephthalate - PET, and polycarbonate - PC) were tested in two size fractions (50-300 μm and 3-5 mm). All plastics were subjected to six different treatment protocols, including chemical solutions (10% potassium hydroxide (KOH), 30% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), Fenton’s reagent (H2O2 + iron (II) sulfate heptahydrate), 10% sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), and 10% acetic acid (CH3COOH), as well as freeze-drying. Following treatment, particles were examined for changes in their physical or chemical characteristics. Rather than aiming to identify new degradation mechanisms, this study provides a systematic comparison of commonly used sample-preparation protocols in the context of candidate microplastic reference material validation. A semi-quantitative evaluation system was established to assess suitability for future reference material and interlaboratory-comparison applications. Results showed minor physical and chemical alterations to PET and PVC. NaClO and CH₃COOH were less damaging than KOH and Fenton’s reagent. Overall, the impact on particle integrity was limited, indicating that the tested preparation steps had minimal influence on analytical outcomes, except for PET. Thus, the tested microplastics could be considered suitable candidates for reference materials covering the size range 30–5000 µm.

This study presents the first integrated assessment of plastic pollution at the Kura River delta, where the river enters the hydrologically enclosed Caspian Sea. We applied a modular toolbox comprising four complementary components: high-resolution hydrodynamic modeling to predict debris convergence zones, UAV-based mapping to survey shoreline conditions, automated object-based image analysis for debris detection and classification, and standardized field monitoring by trained community participants for ground-truthing and source identification. Using this framework, we identified debris accumulation hotspots and developed a replicable approach for assessing plastic pollution in semi-enclosed systems. Surveys along a 1.2km shoreline recorded over 600 items, dominated by beverage containers by count and marine-sourced plastics by weight. Transboundary inputs were confirmed through labeled debris from five countries. The initiative also expanded institutional collaboration, trained over 150 participants, and established a local monitoring network. These findings highlight the value of integrating technical diagnostics with community engagement to enable scalable, site-adapted responses to plastic pollution.

This study provides the first integrated assessment of emerging (microplastics, MPs) and legacy (organochlorine pesticides, OCPs; polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs; and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs) contaminants in abyssal sediments (>700 m) of the southern Caspian Sea. Vertically resolved cores (0-6 cm) were analyzed to determine compound-specific distributions and persistence. MPs were found only in the surface layer (0-2 cm) at 16 items kg-1 dw, composed exclusively of polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers, indicating restricted downward transport. OCPs such as 4,4'-DDT and Dieldrin declined sharply with depth, whereas transformation products (4,4'-DDE) and recalcitrant compounds persisted. PCBs were confined to surface sediments, while total PAHs (∑PAHs) increased with depth (49-68 ng g-1), reflecting stronger contributions from natural petrogenic sources associated with pre-industrial conditions. These results show that the southern Caspian abyss functions as a long-term sink for both emerging and legacy contaminants, governed by hydrographic isolation, weak bottom circulation, and sediment focusing. The co-occurrence of MPs and persistent hydrocarbons underscores the role of enclosed basins in global contaminant storage and long-term pollutant fate.

NordAqua is a multidisciplinary Nordic Center of Excellence funded by NordForsk Bioeconomy program (2017-2022). The research center promotes Blue Bioeconomy and endeavours to reform the use of natural resources in a environmentally sustainable way. In this short communication, we summarize particular outcomes of the consortium. The key research progress of NordAqua includes (1) improving of photosynthetisis, (2) developing novel photosynthetic cell factories that function in a "solar-driven direct CO2 capture to target bioproducts" mode, (3) promoting the diversity of Nordic cyanobacteria and algae as an abundant and resilient alternative for less sustainable forest biomass and for innovative production of biochemicals, and (4) improving the bio-based wastewater purification and nutrient recycling technologies to provide new tools for integrative circular economy platforms.

Plastics and microplastics are regularly found in the marine environment around the world. Currently, the spatial and temporal dynamics of microplastics in remote areas, including polar regions, are poorly assessed and only limited long-term data is available on occurrence. Long-term data series are required to address changes in abundances of microplastics including variations in spatial and temporal distribution as well as to understand the influence of, for example, different seasons, changing weather or hydrological conditions. But there is very little data from remote regions of the world(1) including the Arctic and Antarctic. One approach is to use ships of opportunity (www.norsoop.com) to collect data over replicated transects: these include research vessels as well as commercial vessels and expedition cruise ships. Advances in technology enable assessment of microplastic abundance at large spatial scale using existing infrastructure in addition to the collection of oceanographic meta-data. As part of the Hurtigruten – NIVA collaboration, a microplastic sampling module and a marine monitoring system (Ferry Box) was fitted on Hurtigruten’s Expedition vessel MS Roald Amundsen. The science center in this expedition ship, where single use plastic has been removed from all areas, provides a lab facility for preliminary plastic analysis and also a place for interaction with the passengers and engagement in citizen science. During the first year of operation, NIVA and Hurtigruten have collected microplastic samples in the Arctic and the Antarctic for long time periods. In addition, as part of a citizen science project, data and samples have been collected during beach clean-ups in remote areas and analysed on board using a handheld NIR smartphone scanner directly linked to a NIVA cloud database. Average levels of microplastic within the Arctic (1.8-10 n/m3) and Antarctic (1.8-4.6) are still relatively low and consist mostly of fibres. The levels found in the Arctic study were comparable with the results from Lusher et al. 2015 and recent work in the Russian Arctic. Cellulose and cotton-based fibres dominate in the Antarctic samples and polyester is the dominant polymeric fibre. A citizen science project involving a beach clean-up and the subsequent analysis of the samples collected was performed on board MS Roald Amundsen in the Falkland/Malvinas Islands. The results showed large amounts of fishery related material including several polymer-based ropes and net pieces but also plastic utensils, food wrapping and plastic bottles. (1) GESAMP (2016). Sources, fate and effects of microplastics in the marine environment: part two of a global assessment (Kershaw, P.J., and Rochman, C.M., eds). Rep. Stud. GESAMP No. 93, 220 p. (2) Lusher, A. L., Tirelli, V., O’Connor, I., and Officer, R. (2015). Microplastics in Arctic polar waters: the first reported values of particles in surface and sub-surface samples. Nature-scientific reports. 9 p. (3) Yakushev E., Gebruk A., Osadchiev A., Pakhomova S., Lusher A., Berezina A., van Bavel B., Vorozheikina E., Chernykh D., Kolbasova G., Razgon I., Semiletov I. Microplastics distribution in the Eurasian Arctic is affected by Atlantic waters and Siberian rivers. Communications Earth & Environment in press. DOI: 10.1038/s43247-021-00091-0

Plastic pollution has become one of today’s biggest environmental problems. Yearly worldwide production of plastic was 360 million tonnes in 2018, of which approximately 10 million reached the oceans. But there is very little data from remote regions of the world.Several studies have pointed to the tourism and fishing industries as the main sources of plastic marine litter. Hurtigruten as an operator of expedition cruise vessels, believes that it is our responsibility to invest in the understanding and conservation of the areas we visit, this is reflected on our sustainability efforts: Single Use Plastics were banned from all our ships and Hotels in 2018, we have built the first electric/fuel hybrid ships and are transforming other ships in the fleet to the same technology or to run on Liquid biogas.Scientific data collection in the polar regions is challenging due to remoteness, the harsh environment and high operational costs. For the last couple of years, we have supported the scientific community by transporting researchers and their equipment to and from their study areas in polar regions, we have established collaborations with numerous scientific institutions, such as University Centre in Svalbard, Norwegian Polar Institute, Institute for Marine Research, and Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) and we have been actively participating in clean-up projects, and are contributing to the SALT and MALINOR projects.Plastic pollution is having a significant impact on wildlife, and recent studies show that the concentration of microplastics is also greater than estimated. The understanding of the status and impacts of marine litter has many gaps, further studies are needed to improve our knowledge of its distribution and interaction with the marine biota. In partnership with NIVA we have installed a FerryBox on MS Roald Amundsen. Amongst other sensors it has a microplastic collector and preliminary data from the first collection between Tromsø and Longyearbyen agree with published results from the same area. MS Roald Amundsen will sail to both polar areas, where data on microplastic litter is required, making it the perfect ship of opportunity and platform for data collection. Lastly, the large advantage of using cruise ships as sampling and research platforms is the long-term presence in the polar regions, allowing for continued measurements over longer time periods.

Microplastics were sampled in open surface waters by using a manta trawl and an in-situ filtering pump. A total of 24 trawl samples and 11 pump samples were taken at 12 locations around Sweden. Overall, the concentration of microplastic particles was higher in pump samples compared to trawl samples. The median microplastic particle concentration was 0.04 particles per m(-3) for manta trawl samples and 0.10 particles per m(-3) in pump samples taken with a mesh size of 0.3 mm. The highest concentrations were recorded on the west coast of Sweden. Fibers were found in all samples and were also more frequent in the pump samples. Even higher concentrations of fibers and particles were found on the 0.05 mm pump filters. Using near-infrared hyperspectral imaging the majority of the particles were identified as polyethylene followed by polypropylene.

The Partnership for Chemicals Risk Assessment (PARC) is currently under development as a joint research and innovation programme to strengthen the scientific basis for chemical risk assessment in the EU. The plan is to bring chemical risk assessors and managers together with scientists to accelerate method development and the production of necessary data and knowledge, and to facilitate the transition to next-generation evidence-based risk assessment, a non-toxic environment and the European Green Deal. The NORMAN Network is an independent, well-established and competent network of more than 80 organisations in the field of emerging substances and has enormous potential to contribute to the implementation of the PARC partnership. NORMAN stands ready to provide expert advice to PARC, drawing on its long experience in the development, harmonisation and testing of advanced tools in relation to chemicals of emerging concern and in support of a European Early Warning System to unravel the risks of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and close the gap between research and innovation and regulatory processes. In this commentary we highlight the tools developed by NORMAN that we consider most relevant to supporting the PARC initiative: (i) joint data space and cutting-edge research tools for risk assessment of contaminants of emerging concern; (ii) collaborative European framework to improve data quality and comparability; (iii) advanced data analysis tools for a European early warning system and (iv) support to national and European chemical risk assessment thanks to harnessing, combining and sharing evidence and expertise on CECs. By combining the extensive knowledge and experience of the NORMAN network with the financial and policy-related strengths of the PARC initiative, a large step towards the goal of a non-toxic environment can be taken.

Microlitter consists of minute particles of anthropogenic or processed natural material. The project brings together research groups to conduct specific case studies in gradients from near urban so ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:The pesticide metabolite p,p'-DDE has been associated with left ventricular (LV) mass and known risk factors for LV hypertrophy in humans and in experimental models. We hypothesized that the associations of p,p'-DDE with LV hypertrophy risk factors, namely elevated glucose, adiposity and hypertension, mediate the association of p,p'-DDE with LV mass.METHODS:p,p'-DDE was measured in plasma from 70-year-old subjects (n = 988) of the Prospective Study of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors (PIVUS). When these subjects were 70-, 75- and 80- years old, LV characteristics were measured by echocardiography, while fasting glucose, body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure were assessed with standard clinical techniques.RESULTS:We found that p,p'-DDE levels were associated with increased fasting glucose, BMI, hypertension and LV mass in separate models adjusted for sex. Structural equation modeling revealed that the association between p,p'-DDE and LV mass was almost entirely mediated by BMI (70%), and also by hypertension (19%).CONCLUSION:The obesogenic effect of p,p'-DDE is a major determinant responsible for the association of p,p'-DDE with LV mass.

During an investigation of the potential associated with coupling packed column supercritical fluid chromatography (pSFC) to mass spectrometry for the analysis of Dechlorane Plus and related compounds, it was found that negative ion atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) was a promising ionization technique. In the course of maximizing the responses associated with the target analytes, it proved useful to examine some aspects of the complex nature and reactivity of the corona discharge plasma generated to explain the observed ionization products. Various dopants/reagents were screened for both APCI and atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) in negative ion mode and mechanisms of ionization involving superoxide were elucidated based on the results obtained. Superoxide formation was found to be temperature dependent and directly related to the intensity of the ion cluster [M-Cl+O]- obtained for the target DP analytes. Furthermore, triethylamine was identified as a reagent capable of suppressing unwanted side reactions during the ionization process and maximizing response associated with the analytes of interest. The applicability of pSFC-APCI/MS for the separation and detection of Dechlorane Plus and related compounds was demonstrated by analyzing Lake Ontario sediment and comparing the results with values reported in the scientific literature.

Currently used analytical techniques for halogenated aromatic environmental contaminants such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and biphenyls (PCBs), also known as legacy persistent organic pollutants, are based on gas chromatographic separation of target analytes and detection by mass spectrometry. The coupling of packed column supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) to atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry (API/MS) could allow for the concurrent analysis of thermally labile and legacy halogenated environmental contaminants if ionization can be sufficiently optimized. The evaluation of positive ion atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) as well as possible charge transfer dopants for the generation of molecular ion isotopomeric clusters of halogenated environmental contaminants with minimal fragmentation has been completed. Using the investigated parameters, positive ion APPI was found to be the more sensitive technique. Of the aromatic and cycloalkane dopants investigated, only fluorobenzene and trifluorotoluene were found to be effective dopants for the halogenated aromatic target analytes (PCDDs, PCDFs, and PCBs). Experiments involving deuterated dopants confirmed that reactive species generated by cycloalkanes were quenched by the SFC eluent rendering them unusable in conjunction with the investigated separation technique. Alternatively, aromatic dopants were found to be less susceptible to quenching by the SFC eluent and fluorobenzene was determined to be the most effective charge transfer dopant for PCDDs, PCDFs, and PCBs. To demonstrate the applicability of the optimized ionization conditions, SFC-API/MS has been used for the concurrent analysis of legacy halogenated aromatic environmental contaminants (PCDDs, PCDFs, and PCBs) and thermally labile analytes (alpha, beta, and gamma isomers of hexabromocyclododecane). (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.