Seary, R., Acasusa-Rivero, C., Miliou, A., Standerwick, R., Demetriou, M., Chuda, D., Siwka, I. Multiple Phase Microplastic Assessment of the Greek Marine Environment. Rapport de la Commission Internationale de la Mer Méditerranée 2013.

Abstract:

Microplastic pollution is of growing concern worldwide and hence the assessment of its extent in the Greek marine environment is of uppermost importance due to the vast, albeit fragile biodiversity it possesses. In 2009, the first research phase assessed 114 beaches of the Greek islands and mainland producing evidence of microplastic contamination at all sites, leading to further study of an extra 49 sites in 2011. In order to evaluate the impact of this contamination at the lowest level of the trophic chain, the 2012 investigation focused on deposit feeder microplastic ingestion of Holothuria spp. from the NE Aegean, finding an average of 4.68 fibres ingested per individual.