Abstract

The Philippines is one of the countries with the highest plastic waste inputs into the ocean yet there is dearth of information on the level of contamination by plastic wastes in local marine ecosystems. This study aims to provide a plastic litter profile in a local beach as an initial report on plastic waste contamination in a typical coast. Likewise, microplastic (MP) occurrence is measured to establish baseline data on MP level. Results showed that, at sampling time, the beach had a high level of plastic contamination. The Clean-coast index was calculated at 13.14 (classified under ‘dirty’) and, indeed, plastics comprised 85% of the beach litter. The most abundant plastic litter was plastic wrapper as sachet, which is a ubiquitous packaging type in the Philippines. Furthermore, microplastic count sans fibers was at 0.26 items/g, which is comparable to regional data so far.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.