Microplastics (plastic particles ≤5 mm) have been studied extensively in coastal areas around the world in several habitats. Nevertheless, understanding and explaining the temporal and spatial occurrence and dynamics of microplastics is challenging. For the first time, three environmental variables were studied at six locations at the same time for each season over a year, along the North and West coasts of Scotland. Surface water was collected with a pole water sampler from the shore whilst beach sediment was sampled using glass jars, and mussels were the target organism collected. Concentrations of microplastics ranged from 0 to 6 ± 1.50 particles per l of surface water. In beach sediment, microplastics concentrations ranged from 0 to 0.37 ± 0.12 particles per g.dw, whilst for mussels it ranged from 0 to 23.81 particles per g.ww. This study was designed to determine the presence of microplastics as well as extend the temporal and geographical scales. We developed a simple, cost-effective and practical tool-kit to collect microplastics from the coastal environment and engaged the public in scientific research. The tool-kit was designed to take into account the latest recommendations for sampling each environmental substrate, whilst being practical for citizen scientists to use. This research demonstrates that using a semi-structured to structured project with a defined sampling approach including the participation of the public with local knowledge can be an effective way to monitor microplastics in the marine environment along the Scottish coastline. This approach can be adapted to other projects monitoring microplastics to increase the use of citizen science in projects, allowing more studies to take place, more samples to be collected, and a greater understanding of the occurrence and the potential impact of microplastics in the environment.

中文翻译：

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一个使用公民科学从海洋环境（沉积物，海水和生物群）中采样微塑料的新型收集工具套件。

微塑料（≤5mm的塑料颗粒）已在世界各地多个栖息地的沿海地区进行了广泛的研究。然而，理解和解释微塑料的时空分布和动力学是具有挑战性的。在一年中的每个季节的同一时间，沿着苏格兰的北海岸和西海岸，在六个位置首次对三个环境变量进行了研究。用极地水采样器从岸上收集地表水，同时使用玻璃罐对海滩沉积物进行采样，贻贝是收集的目标生物。每升地表水中微塑料的浓度范围为0到6±1.50颗粒。在海滩沉积物中，微塑料的浓度范围为每g.dw的0到0.37±0.12颗粒，而贻贝的浓度范围为每gww的0到23.81颗粒。这项研究旨在确定微塑料的存在以及扩展时间和地理范围。我们开发了一种简单，经济高效的实用工具包，用于从沿海环境中收集微塑料，并使公众参与科学研究。该工具包的设计考虑到了对每种环境底物进行采样的最新建议，同时对于公民科学家也很实用。这项研究表明，采用半结构化到结构化的项目并采用确定的采样方法，包括使公众了解当地情况，这可以是监测苏格兰海岸线海洋环境中的微塑料的有效方法。这种方法可以适用于其他监测微塑料的项目，以增加公民科学在项目中的使用，