From macro to micro: dataset on plastic contamination along and across a sandy tide-less coast (the Curonian Spit, the Baltic Sea)

Elena Esiukova; Liliya Khatmullina; Olga Lobchuk; Alexey Grave; Alexander Kileso; Mirco Haseler; Andrey Zyubin; Irina Chubarenko

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2020.105635

From macro to micro: dataset on plastic contamination along and across a sandy tide-less coast (the Curonian Spit, the Baltic Sea)

Data Brief. 2020 Apr 30:30:105635. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2020.105635. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Authors

Elena Esiukova¹, Liliya Khatmullina¹, Olga Lobchuk¹, Alexey Grave¹, Alexander Kileso², Mirco Haseler³, Andrey Zyubin², Irina Chubarenko¹

Affiliations

¹ Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 36, Nakhimovski prospect, Moscow, 117997, Russia.
² Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, 14, A. Nevskogo ul., Kaliningrad, 236016, Russia.
³ Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde, Seestrasse 15, D-18119 Rostock, Germany.

Abstract

The contamination by macrolitter (>25 mm), mesolitter (5-25 mm), large microlitter (2-5 mm), large and small microplastics (L-MPs (2-5 mm) and S-MPs (0.5-2 mm), accordingly) in the surface beach sand at 6 locations along the 100-km-long marine coast of the Curonian Spit UNESCO National Park and the neighboring city beaches is quantified. In total, 55 samples obtained during 1-2 May 2018 are analyzed. Primary data is provided, along with exhaustive information on sampling dates and coordinates, sampling methods, extracting procedures, control measures, detection techniques, and μ-Raman spectroscopy verification. The number of items per m² and items per kg dry weight (for MPs) is determined separately for fibres, films, and fragments. Distributions by size and plastic type are presented. Standard protocols, a modified NOAA method, and μ-Raman spectroscopy were applied to obtain the data, thus they can be used for comparative analyses.

Keywords: Beach litter; Beach zones; Curonian Spit; Microplastics; National park.