Studying the Presence and Distribution of Microplastics in a Norfolk Salt Marsh

As a rising global pollution issue, microplastics have been discovered in every major environment around the world. Marine and coastal ecosystems in particular are often highlighted for the presence and impacts of plastic pollution; however, salt marshes are quickly gaining interest, and concern, as potential traps and long-term sinks for microplastics.

Fundamental sedimentation processes within salt marshes are hypothesised to be ideal for microplastic accumulation, as well as potential abundant physical trapping from vegetation. Salt marshes also provide ideal natural conditions that promote the breakdown and degradation of plastic, thus leading to several different incoming sources of microplastic. With several possible plastic inputs, there is the potential for high microplastic concentration in salt marshes, however when compared to other coastal ecosystems, there are very few studies within this habitat and so plastic levels are largely unknown.

As habitats with important ecosystem services such as biodiversity and carbon storage, it is critical that we improve our understanding of the impacts which microplastics may have upon salt marshes. However, to do this we must first understand what the spread of microplastics in this environment is. This project hopes to measure the amount of microplastics in a natural salt marsh, focussing on their spatial distribution throughout the marsh and neighbouring mudflats. From this initial location data, we will then investigate the impact of physical marsh attributes on any distribution trends and see how much the amount of microplastics across the marsh can be explained by these factors.