Microplastics (plastic < 5mm) has become a prominent research topic over the last 15 years. Microplastic research papers are published around the world, using a variety of organisms, environments, and interactions as study systems. Findings from these papers suggest that microplastics have negative effects, like behavior disruption and cell death, on marine organisms. This research project uses scientometrics to analyze if trends in regional plastic policies are correlated with marine microplastic research papers. Utilizing spatial analysis, we compared the rate and spread of microplastic research and plastic policies across the globe to identify a statistical relationship between them. We then further explored this relationship by determining if the distribution of study systems in a region’s research affected the quantities of policies in that region. We used the Web of Sciences database to obtain data on microplastics papers from 2006 to 2018. Our data has revealed that specific species are being used in research more than others and that there are large concentrations of microplastics papers in areas like Europe and China. Countries with large amounts of plastic research also have the most plastic policies. The results of this project help decipher how marine microplastics research can have an impact on plastic policy.

Microplastic (plastic < 5mm) pollution is increasing at an exponential rate in marine environments, leading to increased contamination of marine organisms. Previously, it was thought that the majority of microplastics were found in surface waters due to their positive buoyancy; however, recent studies show pollution exists throughout the water column. Mussels, suspension feeding bivalves, can be catalysts to the spread of microplastic pollution to different trophic levels through filtration, ingestion, and egestion of microplastics. Mussels are prominent benthic-pelagic coupling organisms in marine ecosystems, moving particles and nutrients between habitats through different types of biodeposits. Mussels produce feces and pseudofeces, where feces is the digested biodeposit and the pseudofeces are the rejected materials. Accumulation of microplastics in their biodeposits may interfere with this coupling by altering sinking rates, giving other organisms more opportunity to feed on deposits and promote the spread of microplastics through the food chain.The purpose of our project is to test how different types of microplastics affect sinking rates of mussel biodeposits. Our hypothesis is that mussels filter microplastic particles differently.The more readily ingested microplastic will lower the sinking rate of the feces more drastically. In our experiment we fed mussels either polystyrene or polyethylene microspheres along with algae, collected their biodeposits, and measured sinking rate. Further, we quantified microplastic and algae found in each type of biodeposit. The selectivity of mussels toward a particular microplastic was determined by the amount of a microplastic present in the feces vs the pseudofeces. The results from this study can help us understand the impact of microplastic pollution and how mussels play a major role in the spread of microplastics. They may also provide insight into which types of microplastic are more readily spread, potentially providing information on how to distribute microplastic waste.