Three new reports available on beach litter, microlitter, and litter on the seafloor in the Baltic SeaHELCOM marine litter workshop to focus on microlitter sampling and analysisDuring 2017, experts from all over the Baltic Sea region have worked together on how to monitor and assess marine litter in the Baltic Sea, within the EU-financed . The project is now coming to an end, and it is time to share the results. With the support and guidance of the , three reports have been prepared, to be finalized by the end of the year: ;; and.The results of these reports will be discussed in the HELCOM SPICE Workshop on microlitter, to be held on 7–8 November in Helsinki, with the aim to identify gaps and ways forward in marine litter monitoring and assessment in the Baltic Sea. More specifically, the focus of the Workshop will be on sampling and analysing microlitter:sampling environments (such as water surface, water column, sediment, biota), options for sampling (such as manta trawl, Baby-Bongo net, box core), and analytical methods (such as stereo microscopy, Raman, FTIR, chemical digestion, enzyme digestion).The Workshop will be co-chaired by Outi Setälä (Finland), Włodzimierz Krzymiński (Poland), and Per Nilson (Sweden). Key speakers of the event will be Mr. Martin Hassellöv (University of Gothenburg) and Mr. Mikhail Zobkov (P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology), who will talk about their experiences from the BASEMAN project (Defining the baselines and standards for microplastics analyses in European water) and the MARBLE project (MicroplAstics Research in the BaLtic marine Environment projects), respectively.The HELCOM coordinated SPICE project develops marine litter indicators towards operationalization and contributed to the assessment of marine litter in the * * *Note for editorsThe Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organization of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Union working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution and to ensure safety of navigation in the region. Since 1974, HELCOM has been the governing body of the ‘Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area’, more commonly known as the Helsinki ConventionThe focuses on nutrient and hazardous substance inputs from diffuse sources and point sources on land, including the follow-up of HELCOM nutrient reduction scheme implementation. The group ensures the necessary technical underpinning and develops solutions for policy-relevant questions and needs. Marine litter and underwater noise are also coordinated by this group. Its official name is the Working Group on Reduction of Pressures from the Baltic Sea Catchment Area.* * * For more information, please contact:Marta Ruiz Associate Professional Secretary HELCOM Tel: +358 40 6472424 Skype: helcom59 E-mail: marta.ruiz(at)helcom.fi
Three new reports available on beach litter, microlitter, and litter on the seafloor in the Baltic Sea – HELCOM marine litter workshop to focus on microlitter sampling and analysis
