Collection of Anthropogenic Litter from the Shores of Lake Malawi: Characterization of Plastic Debris and the Implications of Public Involvement in the African Great Lakes.

Bahati S Mayoma,Kristian Syberg,Aubrery Efudala,Farhan R Khan,Innocent S Mjumira

doi:10.3390/toxics7040064

Bahati S Mayoma, Kristian Syberg + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics7040064

Copy DOI

Journal: Toxics	Publication Date: Dec 13, 2019
Citations: 9	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Roskilde University, The University of Dodoma

Abstract

Anthropogenic debris is an environmental problem that affects beaches and coastlines worldwide. The abundance of beach debris is often documented with the use of public volunteers. To date, such community participations have been largely confined to the marine environment, but the presence and impact of anthropogenic debris on freshwater shorelines has been increasingly recognized. Our study presents the first such information from the African Great Lakes, specifically Lake Malawi. A total of 490,064 items of anthropogenic litter were collected by over 2000 volunteers in a clean-up campaign that took place annually between 2015 and 2018. Approximately 80% of the anthropogenic debris was comprised of plastic litter, with plastic carrier bags being the most common item. The dominance of plastic litter, and in particular the presence of plastic bags, which have subjected to bans in some African countries, is discussed. The broader implications of citizen science in the African Great Lakes area is also discussed.

Highlights

Anthropogenic debris is an environmental problem that affects beaches and coastlines worldwide [1,2]
This study presents, for the first time, data on the anthropogenic debris collected by volunteers on the Malawian coast of Lake Malawi
These two studies provide evidence that plastic debris in Lake Victoria is subject to degradation and the products of that breakdown are available for ingestion by resident fish populations [25]

Summary

Introduction

Anthropogenic debris is an environmental problem that affects beaches and coastlines worldwide [1,2]. The presence of debris, plastics, on the shoreline of Lake Malawi could result in amounts of microplastics (MPs, < 5 mm) entering the water via degradation and being ingested by the fish. Suspected plastic particles were recovered from the gastrointestinal tracts of 11 perch (55%) and 7 tilapia (35%), with spectral analysis confirming the presence of MPs in 20% of each species [24] Together, these two studies provide evidence that plastic debris in Lake Victoria is subject to degradation and the products of that breakdown are available for ingestion by resident fish populations [25]. The data presented here adds to the little information on anthropogenic and plastic debris collected from freshwater shorelines and is the first of its kind from the African Great Lakes. Collected during the clean-up at Nkhata jetty in 2018

Materials and Methods

Beach Clean-Up Methodology

Data Handling

Collection of Anthropogenic Litter

Plastic Litter