%0 Journal Article 
%A González-Ortegón, Enrique
%A Sendra, Marta
%A Sparaventi, Erica
%A Sanchez Leal, Ricardo F.
%A Ríos Hierro, Isaac de los
%A Baldó, Francisco
%A González Fernández, Daniel
%A Yeste Siguenza, María del Pilar
%T Coastal gradients of small microplastics and associated pollutants influenced by estuarine sources
%D 2022
%@ 0025-326X

%U http://hdl.handle.net/10498/26471
%X Small microplastics (SMPs) in the gulf of Cadiz was sampled at 5 m depth by pumping it through the ship's pipe system and filtered through a 45 mu m mesh size net. Our study reveals that higher densities have been found (130 mg.m(-3)) compared to other regions worldwide and these densities decreased from the coastline to the outer stations, showing a general coastal gradient influenced by estuarine outflows. SMPs with a size range between 45 and 193 mu m were predominant and most of them composed by polyethylene and polypropylene. The metals associated with the MPs were mainly Na (21.1%), K (11.3%), Fe (8.5%), Ca (2.1%), Cr (1.8%), Zr (13.3%) and Hf (0.7%). The high proportion of Zr compared to Fe, which is different from what can be found in the environment,
%K Marine litter
%K Microplastics
%K Estuarine source
%K Oceanographic current
%K Metallic additives
%K Food web
%~ Universidad de Cádiz