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This work was supported by the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology Israel-Portugal collaboration grant (3–1650). Funding Information: The authors are grateful to Maxim Rubin-Blum and Mali Salmon-Divon for scientific advice. The authors thank “ecoocean” non-profit organization for providing the Israeli research vessel and the crew. The authors acknowledge the collaboration of the Institute for Nature and Forests Conservancy (ICNF), in particular Ana Sofia Palma and the Nature Wardens, Carlos Silva known as “Lobo do Mar,” Inês Nobre and André Silveira for operating the boat and helping to collect samples in Sado. The authors express gratitude to the MARLab team of the NOVA School of Science and Technology, especially Andreia Guilherme, João Pequeno, and other volunteers who helped in field work, and also thank Isabel Menezes from the Portuguese Institute for the Ocean and Atmosphere (IPMA), for granting access to the Folsom splitter. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2023 Marsay, Ambrosino, Koucherov, Davidov, Figueiredo, Yakovenko, Itzahri, Martins, Sobral and Oren. Introduction: Floating microplastic debris are found in most marine environments around the world. Due to their low density and high durability, plastic polymers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene serve as stable floating substrates for the colonization of diverse communities of marine organisms. Despite the high abundance of microplastic debris in the oceans, it is not clear how the geographical location and season affect the composition of marine microplastic and its bacterial microbiome in the natural environment. Methods: To address this question, microplastic debris were collected from the sea surface near estuaries in the Mediterranean Sea (Israel) and in the Atlantic Ocean (Portugal) during summer and winter of 2021. The microplastic physical characteristics, including shape, color, and polymer composition, were analyzed and the taxonomic structure of the microplastic bacterial microbiome was characterized using a high-resolution metabarcoding pipeline. Results: Our results, supported by previously published data, suggest that the plastisphere is a highly diverse ecosystem which is strongly shaped by spatial and temporal environmental factors. The geographical location had the highest impact on the plastisphere physical characteristics and its microbiome composition, followed by the season. Our metabarcoding analysis showed great variability between the different marine environments with a very limited microbiome “core.” Discussion: This notion further emphasizes the importance of plastisphere studies in different geographical locations and/or seasons for the characterization of the plastisphere and the identification of plastic-associated species. publishersversion published

The i-plastic project (https://i-plastic.net) aims to understand and predict the dispersion, accumulation, and impacts of microplastics (5 mm to 1 µm) and nanoplastics (below 1 µm) in marine environments from tropical and temperate land-ocean interface to the open ocean under distinct flow and climate regimes. Seasonal monitoring of the fluxes of microplastics in three different coastal areas will be done in Brazil, Portugal, and Spain, The i-plastic project assembles a multidisciplinary consortium of European and Brazilian experts from five institutes and four countries. In Portugal, the ocean sampling area is located between Ovar and Vieira de Leiria, the estuarine area is in the Mondego River between Montemor-o-Velho and Figueira da Foz and the intertidal on the beaches adjacent to the mouth of the Mondego River. This work presents the results from 60 samples collected by MARE-NOVA and Hydrographic Institute teams, in two campaigns – in autumn 2021 and spring 2022 – 40 beach samples, 8 of river bottom sediment, and 12 of ocean bottom sediment (IHPT-i-PLASTIC2021-1 and IHPT-i-PLASTIC2022-2). The first results obtained show that all the sediment samples are contaminated with microplastics. In spring, the most common particles are blue fibers and white fragments. In autumn, the predominant particles are blue and white fragments. In both campaigns, Forte de Santa Catarina beach and Cabedelo beach are the most contaminated sites with microplastics. Moreover, in ocean and river sediments, the predominant microplastics found are fibers, while in the intertidal sediments they are fragments. These results will contribute to understanding the dispersion and accumulation of microplastics in this marine environment. Also see: https://micro2022.sciencesconf.org/427631/document, In MICRO 2022, Online Atlas Edition: Plastic Pollution from MACRO to nano

The Mediterranean Sea (MS) is defined as the largest and deepest semi-confined basin,and it's recognized as among the most plastic-polluted marine areas in the world. Its coasts are characterized by more than 450 ports and terminals that represent about 30% of the world's maritime trade (by volume). Due to the specificity of ports, which are characterized by poor water exchange with the open sea, they have been classified as a major sink for plastic pollution.The study aims to assess the presence, composition and characterization of Mps in commercial fish. This work was carried out in six fishing ports along the Tunisian coasts to monitor the presence of microplastic by analyzing the gastro intestinal tract of Lithognathus mormyrus which has an economic value in Tunisia. Microplastics were found to be present in the 90% of samples. A total of 35 items identified in the fish were fibers with different colors, red, blue and white and fragments. The polymers found in the microplastics selected for investigation using Micro Fourier Transformed Infrared spectroscopy (µFTIR), were Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Polyacrylamide and Acrylamide. These results provide an important baseline on microplastic pollution along the Tunisian coasts as it is the first time to assess possible use L. mormyrus as a b̈ioindicators̈pecies of microplastic pollution in port areas in Tunisia. Also see: https://micro2022.sciencesconf.org/426646/document, In MICRO 2022, Online Atlas Edition: Plastic Pollution from MACRO to nano

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-wmr-10.1177_0734242X211003133 for Application of failure mode and effects analysis to reduce microplastic emissions by Ana Pires and Paula Sobral in Waste Management & Research

Microplastic pollution is presently considered a high concern topic by scientists, policy makers, governmental bodies, non-governmental organizations and the general public. Microplastics are highly widespread in all environmental compartments (e.g. air, water, sediments and biota) and increasing empirical evidence points towards potential negative effects on organisms, both at an individual scale and potentially at population and ecosystem level, as well as effects on human health. To understand the levels and effects of microplastics on biota, it is important to conduct risk assessment evaluations based on realistic microplastic concentration exposure scenarios which are targeted at identifying the effects of microplastics on species and ecosystems. Realistic data on exposures should derive from reliable monitoring data on the uptake and accumulation of microplastics in biota. Presently, there is sufficient empirical data available to underpin arguments to suggest species that could serve as suitable candidates for monitoring microplastics in the environment. Comparison of available data is still limited due to the use of different analytical methods and reporting units, nonetheless researchers have been providing recommendations and frameworks to surpass these limitations. Many methods initially focused on particles

Marine anthropogenic litter has long been recognised as an emerging pollutant of global concern. Its ubiquitous distribution and its direct and indirect impacts on aquatic ecosystems, marine fauna and local economies have been recently highlighted by several studies and international organisations around the world. Although comprised of different materials, plastic constitutes the most abundant fraction reported in worldwide surveys, with percentages that are variable from region to region. Among plastic materials, microplastics (herein MPs), represent a huge concern due to their impacts resulting from fragmentation under weathering conditions (e.g. solar radiation, water temperature and abrasion processes) and from their ability to adsorb persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals (PBTC) (e.g. polychlorinated biphenyls - PCBs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – PAHs) and trace elements (e.g. Cu, Zn, etc.). In addition to these impacts, recent studies have also reported the potential for MPs to be easily mistaken as food particles and subsequently ingested by a wide range of organisms throughout the different environmental compartments (e.g. sediment, water, air). Under the scope of the JPI-Oceans, BASEMAN is an international and interdisciplinary collaborative research project that aims to overcome the lack of standardised methodologies through a profound and detailed comparison and evaluation of all approaches from sampling to identification of MPs. The two overall goals of the project are firstly “The validation and harmonisation of analytical methods” which is indispensable for the second goal of “Identification and quantification of MPs”. Based on these goals and with the overall aim of creating a standardised methodology to allow microplastics harmonised long-term monitoring in Europe, the BASEMAN project provides a set of recommended protocols to allow comparisons among studies. With this in mind, the protocols will focus on sampling, processing and analysis of MPs in samples from different environmental compartments, specifically addressing MPs from intertidal and subtidal sediments. This protocol is aimed at improving sampling, processing and MPs data collection quality while also allowing comparison amongst different studies throughout Europe. Published Refereed Current 14.1 TRL 8 Actual system completed and "mission qualified" through test and demonstration in an operational environment (ground or space) Manual (incl. handbook, guide, cookbook etc) Standard Operating Procedure

Uma reflexão que se pretenda séria sobre o papel contemporâneo das prisões na lógica punitiva dos Estados, conduz-nos inevitavelmente à conclusão de que a questão penitenciária, não existe. Ou pelo menos que é uma discussão estéril, que se focaliza no sintoma e não na "doença" que o origina. Aborda-se o fenómeno da globalização do encarceramento maciço, que evolui assim em sentido contrário à criminalidade registada pelos órgãos de polícia criminal nos últimos anos no contexto europeu. A realidade portuguesa demonstra que a pena de prisão não é apenas aplicada como ultima ratio. As prisões estão a abarrotar de pobres e excluídos, que permanecem cada vez mais tempo, com uma considerável percentagem de condenados em curtas penas de prisão. Esta invisibilização da miséria revela-se como resposta necessária aos Estados neo-liberais e às suas políticas criminais.