This dataset contains information relating to the survival and persistence of Salmonella spp. on plastic and glass, under conditions simulant of environmental UV exposure. The data encompass bacterial strain identity, material type, timepoints (days), temperature (°C), bacterial concentration (CFU/ml), survival percentages, and regression parameters. Data were sampled over a 21-day period using culture-based approaches; and the ability of isolates to cause disease following their recovery was determined through the use of a Galleria mellonella model. This work was supported by the UKRI Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) as part of the GCRF SPACES project [grant number NE/V005847/1] and the Plastic Vectors project, “Microbial hitch-hikers of marine plastics: the survival, persistence & ecology of microbial communities in the ‘Plastisphere’” [grant number NE/S005196/1]. Full details about this nonGeographicDataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/57ef148f-8cfb-4ba6-b673-114b22b21613

In this mesocosm study, three types of wet wipes (plastic containing, and home and commercially compostable) colonised with E. coli were buried in beach sand and their degradation, tensile strength, and concentration of E. coli was quantified over 15 weeks. Wipes were firstly passed through a series of treatments to simulate their journey from the bathroom to the beach. Water characteristics (pH, salinity) of these water types were measured. Full details about this nonGeographicDataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/19a8083b-afa4-40b9-91bf-7a529eea870d

This dataset holds realistic environmental concentrations of potential pathogens colonising microplastic beads (nurdles) collected from ten Scottish beaches. Observed measures include concentrations and the present genes of Klebsiella bacteria isolated from the nurdles, as well as the salinity, electrical conductivity, turbidity, and polymer composition of the nurdles. In addition, an infection experiment was conducted to measure the virulence of the Klebsiella bacteria. Galleria melonella larvae were infected with the isolated Klebsiella bacteria and the number of living larvae was recorded. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/fdd72810-a57f-444f-83cf-f2351ef4c940

This resource holds survival data of human pathogens bound to microplastics during transfer through the freshwater-marine continuum. The survival of Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonising polyethylene or glass particles was quantified in mesocosm incubation experiments designed to simulate, (1) the direct release of microplastics from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) into freshwater and seawater environments; and (2) the movement of microplastics downstream following discharge from the WWTP through the river-estuary-marine-beach continuum. Background bacterial concentrations and crystal violet were also measured. Full details about this nonGeographicDataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/c31c0b2a-ee5b-479f-84c3-ff1b0bfc6d84

This dataset provides measurements of total lipid mass and free fatty-acid composition of the Arctic copepod Calanus hyperboreus, copepodite stage CV, collected during three independent shipboard microplastic exposure experiments conducted aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough in July-August 2024 during the KANG-GLAC cruise (SD041). Copepods were exposed to pristine and biofouled nylon-6 microplastics at concentrations 0, 20 and 200 microgram per liter under food availability and starvation conditions. Total lipid mass was quantified gravimetrically and normalized to individual dry weight. Fatty-acid composition was analysed as fatty-acid methyl esters using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and expressed as relative abundance (percent of total detected fatty acids). Funding was provided by: - Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) IAPETUS2 Doctoral Training Partnership (NE/S007431/1) - UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Future Leaders Fellowship project CUPIDO (MR/T020962/1) - European Research Council (Horizon 2020) project ANTSIE (Grant 864637)

This dataset contains mesocosm experimental data quantifying the ability of the bacterium Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) to persist on microplastic beads in podzol and loamy soil. Persistence was determined through measuring surviving colony forming units (CFUs) of S. Typhimurium on the plastics after destructive sampling of the mesocosm jars. The results of a flooding and leachate experiment are also included, containing transfer potential and leachate gradients of S. Typhimurium in each soil under ambient, and flooding conditions. Water was added to soil columns containing the microbeads to simulate flooding, and the CFUs in the water and on virgin plastics were measured to determine transfer potential. In the persistence experiment samples were measured on days 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 14, 21, 28 and 35, and in the transfer and leachate experiments samples were measured after 7, 14 and 21 days, with four replicates being taken at each time point. This dataset was created as part of a study investigating how human pathogens enter agricultural environments via flooding or contaminated irrigation, and to determine the survivability of S. Typhimurium in these soils. This work is supported by the National Environmental Research Council (NE/V005847/1). Full details about this nonGeographicDataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/0bfdfa23-15f8-4ffd-b1dc-e77178af0304