Table 1 Data sources and measurement procedures

(1)

Law et al. [11]

eastern North Pacific

N^a

0.335

2529

NR^b

W/O^c

V^d

pieces/km²

(2)

T/V Umitaka, Japan (unpublished)^e

Southern Ocean, Pacific

N

0.35

128

100^f

W^g

FTIR

pieces/m³

(3)

Ministry of the Environment, Japan (unpublished)^h

East Asian seas

N

0.35

312

100^f

W

FTIR

pieces/m³

(4)

Collignon et al. [12]

the Mediterranean

Wⁱ

0.2

38

NR

W/O

V

pieces/100m²

(5)

Cózar et al. [10]

world’s ocean

N

0.2

194

100^f

W

V

pieces/km²

(6)

Cózar et al. [13]

the Mediterranean

N

0.2

39

93.6

W

V

g/km²

(7)

Cózar et al. [14]

Arctic Ocean

M^j

0.5

42

100^f

W/O

V

pieces/km²

(8)

Doyle et al. [15]

Bering Sea

M

0.505

271

80

W

FTIR

pieces/m³

(9)

Eriksen et al. [7]

world’s ocean

N

0.33

679

100^k

W/O

V

pieces/km²

(10)

Goldstein et al. [16]

eastern North Pacific

N

0.333

147

100^k

W

V

pieces/m³

(11)

de Lucia et al. [17]

the Mediterranean

M

0.5

4

NR

W

V

pieces/m³

(12)

Lusher et al. [18]

Arctic Ocean

M & I^m

0.333

21

100^l

W

FTIR

pieces/m³

(13)

Lusher et al. [19]

eastern North Atlantic

I

0.25ⁿ

652

4

–

Raman

pieces/m³

(14)

Pan et al. [20]

western North Pacific

M

0.33

18

91.1

W/O

Raman

pieces/km²

(15)

Pedrotti et al. [21]

the Mediterranean

M

0.33

33

100

W/O

FTIR

pieces/km²

(16)

Reisser et al. [22]

Waters around Australia

N&M

0.33

57

93.6

W/O

FTIR

pieces/km²

(17)

Suaria, G., C. G., et al. [23]

the Mediterranean

N

0.2

74

100^f

W

FTIR

pieces/m³

(18)

Zhang et al. [24]

Bohai Sea

M

0.33

11

73

W

FTIR

pieces/m³

(19)

Zhao et al. [25]

East China Sea

N

0.333

15

16.8

W/O

V

pieces/m³

(20)

Law et al. [26] ^o

western North Atlantic & Caribbean Sea

N

0.335

2280

NR

W/O

V

pieces/km²

(21)

Mason et al. [27]

Lakes Erie & Ontario

M

0.333

130

98

W

FTIR

pieces/km²

(22)

Indonesian Institute of Science (unpublished)

Java Sea

N

0.35

16

NR

W

FTIR

pieces/m³

(23)

Ifremer (unpublished)

eastern North Atlantic & the Mediterranean

M & B^p

0.3

256

NR

W

FTIR

pieces/m³

(24)

Pacific Geographical Institute & Maritime State Univ. (unpublished)

Sea of Japan

N & P^q

0.1

21

100^l

W

FTIR

pieces/m³

(25)

Kanhai et al. [28] ^r

eastern Atlantic

I

0.25

76

0 ~ 100^s

–

FTIR

pieces/m³

(26)

Yakushev et al. [29]

Arctic Ocean

N & I

0.2, 0.1^t

108

0 ~ 100

W/O

FTIR, μFTIR^u

pieces/m³

(27)

Kanhai et al. [30] ^v

Arctic Ocean

I

0.25

58

0

–

FTIR

pieces/m³