ERDDAP > info > bcodmo_dataset_957950_v1

Grid DAP Data	Sub- set	Table DAP Data	Make A Graph	W M S	Source Data Files	Acces- sible	Title	Sum- mary	FGDC, ISO, Metadata	Back- ground Info	RSS	E mail	Institution	Dataset ID
		data	graph		files	public	[Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy data] - Photodegradation of macroplastics in the marine environment: fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (EAGER: Collaborative Research: NSF2026: Is Plastic Degradation Occurring in the Deep Ocean Water Column?)		M	background			BCO-DMO	bcodmo_dataset_957950_v1

The Dataset's Variables and Attributes

Row Type	Variable Name	Attribute Name	Data Type	Value
attribute	NC_GLOBAL	cdm_data_type	String	Other
attribute	NC_GLOBAL	Conventions	String	COARDS, CF-1.6, ACDD-1.3
attribute	NC_GLOBAL	creator_email	String	info at bco-dmo.org
attribute	NC_GLOBAL	creator_name	String	BCO-DMO
attribute	NC_GLOBAL	creator_url	String	https://www.bco-dmo.org/
attribute	NC_GLOBAL	doi	String	10.26008/1912/bco-dmo.957950.1
attribute	NC_GLOBAL	infoUrl	String	https://osprey.bco-dmo.org/dataset/957950
attribute	NC_GLOBAL	institution	String	BCO-DMO
attribute	NC_GLOBAL	license	String	The data may be used and redistributed for free but is not intended for legal use, since it may contain inaccuracies. Neither the data Contributor, ERD, NOAA, nor the United States Government, nor any of their employees or contractors, makes any warranty, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assumes any legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness, of this information.
attribute	NC_GLOBAL	sourceUrl	String	(local files)
attribute	NC_GLOBAL	summary	String	The photodegradation of macroplastics in the marine environment remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the weathering of commercially available plastics (tabs 1.3 × 4.4 × 0.16 cm), including high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, and polycarbonate, in seawater under laboratory-simulated ultraviolet A radiation for 3–9 months, equivalent to 25–75 years of natural sunlight exposure without considering other confounding factors. After the exposure, the physical integrity and thermal stability of the tabs remained relatively intact, suggesting that the bulk polymer chains were not severely altered despite strong irradiation, likely due to their low specific surface area. In contrast, the surface layer (∼1 μm) of the tabs was highly oxidized and eroded after 9 months of accelerated weathering. Several antioxidant additives were identified in the plastics through low temperature pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Pyr-GC/MS) analysis. The Pyr-GC/MS results also revealed many new oxygen-containing compounds formed during photodegradation, and these compounds indicated the dominance of chain scission reactions during weathering. These findings highlight the strong resistance of industrial macroplastics to weathering, emphasizing the need for a broader range of plastics with varying properties and sizes to accurately estimate plastic degradation in the marine environment.
attribute	NC_GLOBAL	title	String	[Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy data] - Photodegradation of macroplastics in the marine environment: fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (EAGER: Collaborative Research: NSF2026: Is Plastic Degradation Occurring in the Deep Ocean Water Column?)
variable	Polymer_name		String
attribute	Polymer_name	long_name	String	Polymer_name
attribute	Polymer_name	units	String	unitless
variable	Polymer_acronym		String
attribute	Polymer_acronym	long_name	String	Polymer_acronym
attribute	Polymer_acronym	units	String	unitless
variable	Incubation_time		int
attribute	Incubation_time	actual_range	int	0, 9
attribute	Incubation_time	long_name	String	Incubation_time
attribute	Incubation_time	units	String	unitless
variable	Unit_of_incubation_time		String
attribute	Unit_of_incubation_time	long_name	String	Unit_of_incubation_time
attribute	Unit_of_incubation_time	units	String	unitless
variable	Replicate		int
attribute	Replicate	actual_range	int	1, 6
attribute	Replicate	long_name	String	Replicate
attribute	Replicate	units	String	unitless
variable	vinyl_index		float
attribute	vinyl_index	actual_range	float	0.005015705, 8.440875
attribute	vinyl_index	long_name	String	Vinyl_index
attribute	vinyl_index	units	String	unitless
variable	ketone_index		float
attribute	ketone_index	actual_range	float	0.009467059, 5.727944
attribute	ketone_index	long_name	String	Ketone_index
attribute	ketone_index	units	String	unitless
variable	ether_index		float
attribute	ether_index	actual_range	float	0.005579405, 3.145385
attribute	ether_index	long_name	String	Ether_index
attribute	ether_index	units	String	unitless
variable	alcohol_index		float
attribute	alcohol_index	actual_range	float	2.55E-5, 20.02797
attribute	alcohol_index	long_name	String	Alcohol_index
attribute	alcohol_index	units	String	unitless
variable	Oxidation_index		float
attribute	Oxidation_index	actual_range	float	0.02277591, 36.20404
attribute	Oxidation_index	long_name	String	Oxidation_index
attribute	Oxidation_index	units	String	unitless

The information in the table above is also available in other file formats (.csv, .htmlTable, .itx, .json, .jsonlCSV1, .jsonlCSV, .jsonlKVP, .mat, .nc, .nccsv, .tsv, .xhtml) via a RESTful web service.