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The NOAA NCEI Global Marine Microplastics Data Collection (1972-present)

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: May 06, 2026 | Last Modified: 2026-05-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
Microplastics (i.e., plastics measuring less than 5mm) pollution is a growing problem affecting coastal communities, marine ecosystems, aquatic life, and human health. The widespread occurrence of marine microplastics, and the need to curb its threats, require expansive, and continuous monitoring. While microplastic research has increased in recent years and generated significant volumes of data, there is a lack of a robust, open access, and long-term aggregation of this data. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) marine microplastic data collection provides a global open access to marine microplastic data on an easily discoverable and accessible GIS web map and data portal (https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/microplastics). The objective of this data portal is to develop a repository where microplastics data are aggregated, archived, and served in a user friendly, consistent, and reliable manner. This work contributes to NCEI’s efforts towards data standardization, integration, harmonization, and interoperability among national and international collaborators for monitoring global marine microplastics.

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