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Heather Leslie and Dick Vethaak lead IVM-Deltares report on marine microplastic litter.

The Institute for Environmental Studies collaborates with Deltares in studying litter in the marine environment.

In a recent project carried out on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, our main focus was on the North Sea and scientific support to the implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Deltares and IVM invited experts from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Belgium to discuss microplastic issues related to this study and produced a comprehensive report on the subject. Ongoing practical work towards the detection and identification of microplastics in North Sea water and other Dutch sample matrices at IVM is contributing new knowledge and demonstrates the ubiquity of these peculiar global pollutants - which also have important local and regional sources and sinks.

For more information see the report "Microplastic Litter in the Dutch Marine Environment".