Bridging the microplastic awareness gap: community awareness, risk perception, and policy support for mitigating plastic pollution in Eastern Black Sea catchments
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE, cilt.13, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 13
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.3389/fmars.2026.1884662
- Dergi Adı: FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Applied Science & Technology Source, BIOSIS, Directory of Open Access Journals, Zoological Record, Natural Science Collection (ProQuest), Biological Science Database (ProQuest), Earth, Atmospheric, & Aquatic Science Collection (ProQuest)
- Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
- Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Effective mitigation of plastic pollution in catchment-coastal systems depends on community understanding of pollution pathways, risk perception, and policy support. This study assessed plastic-waste awareness, microplastic awareness, risk perception, policy support, and future engagement intention among school, university, and community-course centre respondents within an Eastern Black Sea source-to-sea project context linked to the Ar & imath;l & imath; and & Ccedil;a & gbreve;layan river catchments (n = 151). A venue-stratified questionnaire was analysed using ordinal-appropriate non-parametric and regression-based methods. The results showed a clear knowledge-concern asymmetry: plastic-waste awareness was moderate (mean = 3.25), whereas microplastic awareness was lower (mean = 2.52), despite high risk perception (mean = 4.38) and strong policy support (mean = 4.16). Microplastic awareness was the strongest cross-sectional correlate of higher plastic-waste awareness (odds ratio [OR] = 2.41), while plastic-waste awareness was positively associated with future engagement intention (OR = 2.29). A venue/life-stage-associated mismatch was also evident: school respondents reported higher microplastic awareness but lower risk perception and policy support than other respondent groups. Policy support was consistently high, particularly for regular river and coastal clean-ups, educational awareness initiatives, and deposit-refund systems, aligning with locally perceived pollution sources such as bottles, plastic bags, and household waste. Despite strong policy support, reported plastic-product use remained moderate, indicating an awareness-action gap. Overall, the findings identify favourable attitudinal conditions for intervention, but also limited microplastic awareness and incomplete behavioural translation. Because the study was cross-sectional, these patterns indicate associations rather than causal pathways. Strengthening microplastic-focused communication, aligning interventions with locally perceived sources, and integrating education with participatory and infrastructure-based measures are therefore critical for catchment-based plastic-pollution management in the Eastern Black Sea region.