Distribution and quantity of microplastic on sandy beaches along the northern coast of Taiwan

•Microplastic particles were found at four sampled beaches along Taiwan’s northern coast.•In total, 1097 particles ranging between 0.25 mm and ≥ 4 mm and weighing 0.771 g were found.•Distribution of microplastic was heterogeneous, with low amount at the NW- and NE- coast and high amount at the north coast.•There was no clear trend between the amount of microplastic and sediment depth.•There was an almost significant negative trend between the size of the particles and their numbers.

Plastic pollution is now ubiquitous in the world's oceans, and studies have shown macroplastic and microplastic pollution of beaches in several East Asian countries. However, to our knowledge, no study of microplastic pollution has been conducted in Taiwan yet. Therefore, we collected sand samples from four beaches along the northern coast of Taiwan in 2015 and extracted microplastic particles using a saturated NaCl solution. Microplastic particles were identified using synchrotron-based FTIR spectroscopy. We recovered 4 to 532 particles from eight 0.0125 m3 samples, with a total of 1097 particles weighing 0.771 g. A negative trend between the size of the particles and their numbers was documented. We thus established that microplastic pollution was ubiquitous along Taiwan's northern coast. Future research should more comprehensively sample beaches around the entirety of Taiwan's coast, and special emphasis should be placed on identifying different sources and movements of microplastic.

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