This work was carried out for the Danish Environment Protection Agency (EPA) for an environmental monitoring program in accordance with the EU Marine Strategy Directive. The purpose of the monitoring is to monitor the state of the environment in the areas covered by the Marine Strategy Directive. The Directive is divided into 11 so-called descriptors, each describing different monitoring areas. The entire Danish marine strategy monitoring is described in Denmark's Marine Strategy II, Monitoring Program 2. Overall, this monitoring is the basis for an assessment of the state of the environment for each descriptor. Descriptor 10 of the Directive deals with marine litter, and the descriptor's criterion 1 describes that the composition, quantity, and spatial distribution of marine litter must be assessed. In this context, microplastics (MP) in sediment must be monitored. This report presents the results from the first round of monitoring. It attempts to map the abundance and geographical distribution of MP in sediments in 20 stations, which were all collected in 2024

The dataset contains the results of the monitoring activity in 2022 in Slovenian coastal waters related to contaminants in sea water.

The dataset contains the results of the monitoring activity in distinct years in Slovenian coastal waters related to contaminants in sediments and biota.

The dataset contains information regarding marine litter on the Romanian beaches, collected during 3 seasons: winter, spring and autumn. The methodology used is MSFD related and 9 beach sectors were monitored, from Vama Veche (South) to Edighiol (DanuBe Delta Biosphere Reserve).

Seafloor litter collected during 2022 (June-July and October-November) and 2023 (May-June and November) on the Romanian Black Sea shelf.

Dataset gives a baseline for micro- and mesoplastic pollution distribution in 24 beaches along the Latvian coastline (Northern Europe, Baltic states), filling the existing knowledge gap and contributing to the global understanding of microplastic particles presence, transport, and the processes governing its dynamics. We also highlight citizen science as a fundamental tool to support data collection and raise awareness about microplastic pollution, as samples were collected by up to 250 volunteers during organized campaigns (Dimante-Deimantovica et al. 2023).

The methodology used for monitoring has been applied in the Baltic Sea Region since 2011 and is based on the recommendations issued by UNEP/IOC in 2009. It has been further developed, considering the guidelines of HELCOM, OSPAR, and recommendations of the European Commission's JRC Marine Litter working group. Marine beach litter monitoring data were gathered from 15 beaches. Monitoring of 13 sites was conducted three times during the spring, summer, and autumn periods, while two beaches were visited once (in the spring) and then replaced with other beaches (no further marine litter monitoring was carried out at these sites in 2023).

Beach litter monitoring data from the Swedish coastline of Kattegat, the Sound and the Baltic Sea

Marine Litter, Cyprus Beach monitoring 2018-2023

This dataset includes data of plastic litter collected by citizens and students during 12 campaigns that were organised in Crete (Greece) during the period May 2022 – May 2023. The campaigns were organized within the framework of the NAUTILOS Horizon 2020 project. More specifically the number of plastic litter items per category (using the J code List of the EMODnet Chemistry Thematic Lot n°4) was recorded together with information about the location, date, surface area covered, data contributor and some environmental characteristics (sediment, weather, surroundings).