BGS Hosted Metadata
Microplastics in sediments of the River Thames Basin, UK
This dataset provides numbers and types of plastic particles extracted from sediment samples of three tributaries of the river Thames: the River Leach, the River Lambourn and The Cut. These rivers are regularly monitored for a range of water quality and biological characteristics as part of the ongoing CEH Thames initiative project. Four sampling sites were selected based on the average percentage of effluent present in the river and population equivalent density to represent scenarios ranging from low sewage input and population equivalent density (Leach and Lanbourn) through an intermediate site (the Cut) to a site with high sewage input and population equivalent density (also in the Cut). The samples were collected between late August and early September 2014. The data provides information on the site characteristics, dry weight of sediment analysed (in grams), number of microplastic particles extracted and characteristics of particles (including shape, colour and polymer type). Types of polymers identified include: polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, nylon and polyester. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/93837492-408f-4349-8dcd-ee833e84e47e
Simple
- Date (Publication)
- 2017-04-26
- Citation identifier
- https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/93837492-408f-4349-8dcd-ee833e84e47e
- Citation identifier
- doi: / 10.5285/93837492-408f-4349-8dcd-ee833e84e47e
- Other citation details
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Horton, A.A., Svendsen, C., Williams, R., Spurgeon, D., Lahive, E. (2017). Microplastics in sediments of the River Thames Basin, UK. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre 10.5285/93837492-408f-4349-8dcd-ee833e84e47e
- Point of contact
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Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Horton, A.
Point of contact Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Horton, A.A. Author Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Svendsen, C.
Author Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Williams, R.
Author Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Spurgeon, D. Author Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Lahive, E. Author NERC Environmental Information Data Centre Publisher NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre Custodian UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Owner
- Maintenance and update frequency
- Not planned
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GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0
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Environmental Monitoring Facilities
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- Access constraints
- Other restrictions
- Other constraints
- no limitations
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© UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
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If you reuse this data, you should cite: Horton, A.A., Svendsen, C., Williams, R., Spurgeon, D., Lahive, E. (2017). Microplastics in sediments of the River Thames Basin, UK. NERC Environmental Information Data Centre https://doi.org/10.5285/93837492-408f-4349-8dcd-ee833e84e47e
- Spatial representation type
- Text, table
- Language
- English
- Character set
- UTF8
- Topic category
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- Environment
- Inland waters
- Utilities communication
- Begin date
- 2014-08-28
- End date
- 2014-09-03
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- Unique resource identifier
- OSGB 1936 / British National Grid
- Distribution format
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Name Version Comma-separated values (CSV)
- Distributor contact
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Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
Distributor
- OnLine resource
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Protocol Linkage Name https://data-package.ceh.ac.uk/data/93837492-408f-4349-8dcd-ee833e84e47e Download the data
- OnLine resource
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Protocol Linkage Name https://data-package.ceh.ac.uk/sd/93837492-408f-4349-8dcd-ee833e84e47e.zip Supporting information
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- Dataset
- Other
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dataset
Conformance result
- Title
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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
- Date (Publication)
- 2010-12-08
- Statement
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The average percentage effluent present in the river was estimated using the Low Flows 2000 (LF2000) WQX (Water Quality eXtension) model. The population equivalent density was calculated using population within the catchment area (of known area) served by the upstream sewage treatment works. This site characteristic data is given in the datasheet ThamesMicroplastics_SamplingLocations. Four replicate sediment samples were taken at each site using a stainless steel scoop, collected into a 1 L glass jar. In the laboratory the 1 L sediment samples were wet-sieved and sediment in the size ranges 1-2 mm and 2-4 mm was retained for further analysis. Microplastic particles were extracted using a number of steps, consisting of manual sorting and density separation with zinc chloride solution (1.7-1.8 kg/L). Each sample comprised a different volume and weight following size-sieving, therefore the inclusion of dry weight data allows for the conversion of total microplastic particles into a concentration (e.g. particles/kg dry sediment) for comparability between samples (ThamesMicroplastics_NumberOfParticles). A subsample (20%) of particles were characterised by type and colour, with composition determined using Raman spectroscopy (ThamesMicroplastics_ParticleCharacteristics). Further details on the methods used for particle extraction and characterisation are available in the supporting information.
Metadata
- File identifier
- 93837492-408f-4349-8dcd-ee833e84e47e XML
- Metadata language
- English
- Character set
- 8859 Part 1
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
- Hierarchy level name
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dataset
- Date stamp
- 2025-03-21T13:21:51
- Metadata standard name
- UK GEMINI
- Metadata standard version
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2.3
- Metadata author
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Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre Point of contact
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