Abstract
Microplastics (MP), synthetic plastic fragments less than 5 mm in diameter, have become an increasingly large environmental concern for various reasons. MPs have been shown to adsorb contaminants, such as persistent organic pollutants, to their surfaces. This may allow MPs to act as a medium of transport for pollutants throughout aquatic environments. Additionally, MPs can be ingested by micro and macro organisms and may be toxic. The focus of this project was to characterize MPs using Fourier-Transform Infrared and Raman spectroscopy and evaluate their temporal and geospatial distribution in the Raritan Bay area. Surface water samples were obtained from various locations that were chosen to test the hypothesis that MPs accumulate in frontal zones, which may act as a sink for MP and represent areas in which there is an elevated probability of ingestion of MP by microorganisms. In order to evaluate the latter statement, zooplankton samples were also collected and subsequently digested and analyzed for MP content. Both hypotheses were supported by data collected in this study, in which the percentage of 250-500 µm MPs detected in each surface water sample subset was positively correlated to the measure of how frontal the sampling site was. Additionally, MPs were detected in zooplankton samples in greater quantities than currently reported in the literature.