We are delighted to announce that the SPASS project has been endorsed as Ocean Decade actions under JETZON.

SPASS (Small Plastics in the Ocean’s Interior: coherent Analysis and Synthesis for better Scrutiny) is established under the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) as the Working Group 174. SPASS tries to address critical gaps in understanding small plastics in the ocean interior by harmonizing methods for sampling, measurement, and data reporting of small plastics across the water column. The working group will develop better-practice standards, validate existing datasets, promote open data sharing, and strengthen international and regional research capacity.

It is led by Shiye Zhao (Japan), Luisa Galgani (Italy) and Karin Kvale (New Zealand).