Marine macrolitter and cigarette butts hazard multiple-use marine protected area and fishing community at Brazil

Abstract

Wide marine litter (ML) contamination impacts human health and economic sectors including fishing, navigation, and tourism. Perequê beach, Brazil, is an authentic fishing community within a touristic multiple-use marine protected area. However, no ML contamination monitoring were so far performed in the region. This study evaluated the spatiotemporal abundance, composition, sources, and associated ML hazards at Perequê beach using a multi-index approach. The 2579 items (0.64 ± 0.72 items.m−2) yielded a high contamination level (CCI = 12.6 ± 14.4) with plastic (44.6–50.9 %) and cigarette butts (20.6–28.4 %) prevalence, while primary sources were smoking (cigarette butts, lighters, others-21.2–30.1 %) and packaging (17.8–22.8 %). Levels of pollutants leaked from cigarette butts (CBPI = 30.5 ± 47.5) and hazardous items (HALI = 3.06 ± 2.64) were among the highest globally. Heightened levels occurred in summer, at dry sand strip, where short-term buoyant items prevailed. Multi-indexing approaches offer valuable insights for local authorities to implement mitigation programs, while contributing to global discussions, promoting awareness, and facilitating replicability.