CEFASa6efbc3c-cdc9-49ad-9da8-3ac9238395dd English service service Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk pointOfContact 2025-11-06T12:50:22 EPSG Geodetic Parameter Registry 2022-01-07 revision WGS 84 CLiP Vanuatu Microplastics in sediment 2017 2020-09-10 publication 2025-11-06 revision 2019-04-15 creation CEFAS19773 https://data.cefas.co.uk This dataset contains 3 csv files. One file contains data on microplastic abundance expressed in number of particles per 5g dried sediment from 14 grabs collected on Efate Island (Vanuatu) in 2017. One file contains spectrum analysis of particles carried out with a ATR-FTIR. A READ-ME text file contains description of columns content for these two csv files. One .zip file includes a csv file with the description of the plastic particles larger than 5mm (macroplastic) and pictures. Microplastics are plastic particles with size < 5 mm in diameter (Arthur et al., 2008). Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk originator Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk custodian Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory (CEFAS) Cefas Lowestoft Laboratory Pakefield Road Lowestoft Suffolk NR33 0HT UK data.manager@cefas.co.uk distributor notPlanned Litter abundance and type SeaDataNet P02 parameter discovery vocabulary 2011-03-25 revision Sediment GEMET, version 1.0 2008-06-01 publication Unknown SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2010-05-18 revision Marine Environmental Data and Information Network MEDIN metadata record availability 2012-01-11 publication data.gov.uk MEDIN metadata record availability 2012-01-11 publication otherRestrictions noLimitations otherRestrictions **Publicly available data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (`https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/)`_ – Please note the applicable attribution statement is as follows: ‘includes Crown copyright, Cefas 2023'** .. _`https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/)`: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ 160.00 170.00 -20.00 -10.00 2017-12-01 2017-12-03 view Unknown https://data.cefas.co.uk/view/19773 Cefas Data Portal information The Cefas Data Portal contains metadata records and data sets available to download and connect to in support of our commitment to open science. service service Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services 2010-12-08 publication true See the referenced specification The Commonwealth Litter Project (CLiP) supported Solomon Islands to take action on plastics entering the oceans. The assessment of microplastics in seawater was part of the action plan to define scientific baselines for future monitoring purposes and comparison. Number of microplastic items per 5g dried sediment in samples from 14 grabs in Efate Island (Vanuatu). Sediment samples were taken from 6 riverine locations and five coastal ones. Samples were dried for 3 days (<50 degrees centigrade) and weighted. Density separation using NaCl solution and a centrifuge, filtering the supernatant. This was followed by a chemical digestion with a KOH:NaClO solution for 3 days at 50 degrees centigrade whilst shaking. Plastic particles were then stained with Nile Red dye and a digital image was acquired through a microscope. Microplastic particles were then counted and a subsample of particles (between 1 and 10%) was processed through a ATR—FTIR to identify particle composition comparing their spectrum to a polymers library. The presence and number of particles of plastic >5mm was also noted for each sample. MEDIN 3.1.1