ArticlePhilosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences2025
A step towards microlitter risk assessment: modelling microlitter storage potential of the UK seabed.
Article in Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Sedimentology of plastics: state of the art and future directions.Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences · 2025Article
- A step towards microlitter risk assessment: modelling microlitter storage potential of the UK seabed.Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
18 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Seafloor sediments have been defined as sinks for microplastics in the marine environment and could therefore represent suitable matrices for their long-term monitoring. Previous studies indicated the widespread distribution of microlitter in seafloor sediments for the UK. In the present study, observations from 2017 to 2021 were used to produce a microlitter distribution model (unitless), derived from physical properties of the seabed that are known to drive the storage capacity of microlitter. The predicted distribution model was converted into a geospatial data layer and plotted against additional open access data layers for likely sources of marine litter (e.g. marine structures) as well as data layers for more sensitive features around the UK (e.g. marine protected areas (MPAs)). Visualization of the accumulation zones for microlitter against the different layers allowed the identification of areas potentially at risk from an increased addition of microlitter from various sources (e.g. dredge disposal sites). Identification of potential risks and prioritization for different zones of action would help the development of national and regional monitoring strategies while reducing costs of multi-compartment, larger scale monitoring programmes. Additional observations and targeted monitoring data are needed to link potential sources of accumulations for microplastics with a higher level of certainty.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Sedimentology of plastics: state of the art and future directions'.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.