Litter Pollution Research Articles

The State of Beach Litter Pollution during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of the Israeli Coasts

This research examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marine litter pollution along the Israeli coast, which constitutes a terminal area in the Mediterranean Sea large-scale circulation. Surveys for litter were conducted on four beaches along the Israeli Mediterranean coast. Sampling was done pre-pandemic in June, September, and December of 2019; during the first year of the pandemic in March, June, September, and December of 2020; and during the second year of the pandemic in March 2021. The study revealed that during the first year of the pandemic, beach litter concentration was reduced by 47 ± 27% on all beaches. The decrease in beach litter continued during the second year on most beaches (34 ± 22% reduction) and was most observable for plastic products, which have a high potential to float and travel long distances. The decline in beach litter concentration in the Israeli beaches during the pandemic was statistically significant. The barcode analysis indicates the appearance of non-Israeli debris on the shores (22-81% pre-COVID-19 and 5-47% during-COVID-19), which supports the assumption that the reduction in marine litter pollution was affected by the decline in beach activity both locally and in other coastal neighboring countries. An additional effect of the pandemic was the appearance of single-use plastic masks and gloves in April 2020, influenced by the epidemic’s regulations and restrictions. Despite the decline in beach marine litter concentration during COVID-19, plastic pollution is a high concern in this heavily populated coastal region. Our data set provides an indication for the potential of local and regional regulations to reduce further beach litter pollution and a baseline for continuous monitoring of these processes. Highlights The impact of COVID-19 on beach litter pollution along Israel’s coast was studied Significant decline in beach litter concentration during the Covid-19 pandemic. Barcode analysis reveals debris is 22-57% from non-local sources. Litter associated with COVID-19 was identified for the first time just as pandemic start

Impact of multiple beach activities on litter and microplastic composition, distribution, and characterization along the southeast coast of India

A regional understanding of beach litter abundance, distribution, and composition is fundamental to formulate strategies to manage litter pollution in a particular area. The present study aimed to quantify and characterize the macro (2.5 cm to 1m), meso (5 mm–2.5 cm), and micro litter (≤5 mm) in the intertidal and backshore area of six sandy beaches utilized for various activities along the southeast coast of India. Macro litter was collected within 100m transects, while meso and micro litter was collected within 1 m2 quadrats (n = 5) from each beach's intertidal and backshore regions. In this study, the average beach litter concentrations were 0.24 ± 0.14 items/m2 (macro), 8.2 ± 5.6 items/m2 (meso), and micro litter was 505 ± 121 particles/kg of dry sediment. The backshore had a higher litter concentration than the intertidal area. Beaches closer to urban centers and multiple activities had higher litter abundance than more remote beaches. Using the Clean Coast Index (CCI), four beaches i.e., Neelankarai, Kovalam, Auroville, and Paradise are characterized as moderately clean beaches, whereas, the other two beaches i.e., Nemmeli and Palar are clean and very clean, respectively. Even though the beaches were found to be moderately clean, there is an urgent need to improve local waste management of beach litter. We suggest regular cleaning of river banks, a strict ban of single-use plastic in the beach area, and raising awareness e.g., by involving school and college students adopting a local beach.

Litter in coastal and marine environments

Litter is one of the most pervasive and fastest-growing anthropogenic alterations of the World's coasts and oceans. Along with climate change, litter has been identified as one of humankind's most critical environmental problems that demand urgent solutions. Litter magnitudes and distribution, and the related detrimental environmental effects, have been documented in all existing coastal and marine environments (e.g., beaches, dunes, abyssal plains and submarine canyons, among others). Litter's presence is now so ubiquitous in the environment that it serves as a geological indicator of the Anthropocene. As part of the solution to this out-of-hand problem, Marine Pollution Bulletin has produced this Special Issue entitled “Litter in Coastal and Marine Environments”. This collection of 37 papers provides a focal point for such related current studies and, in part, seeks to discuss implementing specific management strategies under different scenarios. No single solution exists to cope with the litter issue. However, legally binding global governance that will effectively limit and control the magnitude of litter pollution is greatly needed. The topical range of this collection of papers includes case studies focussing on litter types (mainly dominated by plastics), sources, impacts and solutions.

Setting thresholds is not enough: Beach litter as indicator of poor environmental status in the southern Adriatic Sea

This study deals with the issue of beach litter pollution in the context of the Descriptor 10 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive Good Environmental Status of EU waters and Ecological objective 10, Common indicator 22 of IMAP. Analyses of the amount, distribution and categorization of beach litter were conducted on nine beaches during 108 surveys covering the area of 206.620 m2 in Albania, Italy and Montenegro. Our findings showed that the level of beach litter pollution on south Adriatic beaches is significantly above the adopted threshold values, with a median item numbers of 327, 258 and 234 per 100 m of beach stretch for Albania, Italy and Montenegro, respectively. It can be concluded that, when it comes to beach litter pollution, GES has not been achieved. Given the defined baseline and threshold values at the EU level, the process of reducing the total amount of marine litter in southern Adriatic Sea will be very challenging and needs urgent and specific actions.

Beached and Floating Litter Surveys by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Operational Analogies and Differences

The abundance of litter pollution in the marine environment has been increasing globally. Remote sensing techniques are valuable tools to advance knowledge on litter abundance, distribution and dynamics. Images collected by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV, aka drones) are highly efficient to map and monitor local beached (BL) and floating (FL) marine litter items. In this work, the operational insights to carry out both BL and FL surveys using UAVs are detailly described. In particular, flight planning and deployment, along with image products processing and analysis, are reported and compared. Furthermore, analogies and differences between UAV-based BL and FL mapping are discussed, with focus on the challenges related to BL and FL item detection and recognition. Given the efficiency of UAV to map BL and FL, this remote sensing technique can replace traditional methods for litter monitoring, further improving the knowledge of marine litter dynamics in the marine environment. This communication aims at helping researchers in planning and performing optimized drone-based BL and FL surveys.

A comprehensive approach to assess marine macro litter pollution and its impacts on corals in the Bangka Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

This is a comprehensive study showing the marine anthropogenic litter pollution within North Sulawesi, Indonesia. From an area of 2972 m2 that encompassed five sparsely populated locations, a total of 9421 litter items weighing 137 kg were collected. One location (Talisei North) contributed 50% of all collected litter items. Plastic litter always dominated with 96–99%. Litter was unevenly distributed across investigated areas reaching from the upper beach (3.6–30.1 items/m2) to the reef slope (0–0.03 items/m2). Litter composition and daily accumulation showed spatial-temporal dynamics, with upper beach areas displaying the overall highest accumulation rates. Reef micro-habitats were differently affected, with the reef moat and reef flat showing the highest litter concentrations, although litter amounts were much lower compared to the corresponding beaches. Branching corals, especially Porites cylindrica, were most affected by litter entanglement. Field experiments with P. cylindrica showed that attached plastic induced bleaching, necrosis, and algal overgrowth within five months.

Disentangling beach litter pollution patterns to provide better guidelines for decision-making in coastal management

Beach litter represents a worldwide problem impacting both terrestrial and aquatic environments. In the present study, we assessed beach litter pollution in a prominent touristic site in Brazil, the Jericoacoara National Park. In particular, we applied a delta-generalized additive modeling (GAM) approach in order to investigate pollution hotspots and to provide better guidelines for coastal environmental managers. A total of 7549 litter items were collected, resulting hard and flexible plastics the most abundant type. Our GAM analysis revealed that the distribution of each type of litter was affected by distinct drivers in the protected area, with the extension of the beach, tourist attractions, wind angle, and the distance to water bodies and villages as the most significant explanatory variables. Our model is suitable in predicting litter pollution hotspots on beaches, which is a valuable tool for future guidelines and effective management strategies to prevent beach pollution worldwide.

Marine litter pollution along sandy beaches of Can Gio coast, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Marine debris is a significant threat to the marine environment, human health and the economy in Can Gio island, Vietnam. In this study, we conducted beach litter surveys to quantify and characterize marine litter from six beach transects in this region for the first time using the OSPAR beach litter monitoring guideline. A total of 29,456 items weighting 529,432 g was recorded from 12 surveys in two monitoring campaigns in December 2019 (dry season) and in June 2020 (rainy season). Plastic was the most abundant type of litter in terms of quantity (a total of 26,662 items) and weight (325,606 g), followed by paper and cardboard, cloth, wood, metal, glass and ceramics, rubber and other items. Meanwhile, ropes (less than 1 cm in diameter) and plastic bags accounted for the major parts of sampled plastic items, i.e., 20.18% and 14.46%, respectively. In general, a higher percentage of marine litter, particularly the fishing related items, was found in the rainy season than in the dry season, possibly due to increased fishing and aquaculture activities. In contrast, a reduction pattern of the single use plastics in the rainy season might be due to the decreased tourism activities during the Covid pandemic period. This study not only showed the magnitude of litter pollution, but also provided valuable information that could help decision making to better control and reduce marine litter in the region. In addition, insights from this study indicate that there is an urgent need to design collection, reuse and recycling programs in the area. The collected recyclables, specially plastics, will be a great source of materials for recyclers in a circular economy achieving sustainable development goals.

Is coastal erosion a source of marine litter pollution? Evidence of coastal dunes being a reservoir of plastics

This baseline reports scientific evidence of marine litter items embedded in the dune volume at two study sites on the North Atlantic Portuguese coast. We described how stranded litter participate in the sand dune growth/erosion processes on a natural beach-dune system. From the storm-eroded foredunes on the urbanized beach, we documented exhumed plastics with age up to 38 years. Whether litter burial was due to beach-dune morphodynamic processes, or to irresponsible and/or illegal dumping in the past, this work emphasises the need of improving buried litter census and monitoring on coastal dunes.Coastal erosion processes may further exhume litter buried in dune volumes and on other coastal environments over short- and long-term, re-exposing items into the marine environment. Thus, coastal erosion can be accounted as a secondary diffuse source of littering pollution, beside the multiple sources already identified in the environment.

Macro marine litter survey of sandy beaches along the Cox's Bazar Coast of Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh: Land-based sources of solid litter pollution

Macro-sized marine litter (>2.5 cm) was collected, characterized, and enumerated along the Cox's Bazar Coast, Bangladesh. Marine litter abundance was converted to density (number of items/m2). Beach cleanliness was evaluated using the clean-coast index (CCI). Plastic polythene bags were the most abundant litter items, followed by plastic cups. Total marine litter abundance was 54,401 ± 184 items. Major sources of marine litter were from tourism, fishery and residential activities. Of 10 sites surveyed, two were classified as dirty, two were moderate, four were clean and two were very clean using the CCI. Marine litter pollution along the Cox's Bazar Coast represents a potential threat to coastal and marine environments. This baseline study will help to establish mitigation strategies that are urgently required to reduce marine litter pollution along the Cox's Bazar Coast.

The waste collector: information from a pilot study on the interaction between the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris, Cuvier, 1797) and marine litter in bottom traps fishing and first evidence of plastic ingestion

Few studies focused on behaviour adaptations of organisms to marine litter (ML) pollution in Mediterranean Sea. This research, investigates on some behavior traits of Octopus vulgaris, focusing on the interaction with ML during the artisanal fishing activities by the bottom traps in a small coastal area of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. For the first time, this pilot study uses an integrated approach based on the Fishermen Ecological Knowledge as well as the analysis of ML found in the traps. First assessment of plastic ingestion in this species are also reported.Plastic and metal were the predominant ML categories observed into the bottom traps. A total of 62 plastics, mainly small microplastics and fibres shaped, were ingested. The ML finding in the bottom traps suggests an interesting behavior of the common octopus regarding its interaction with ML, in fact, it seems to bring ML inside its dens, as a collector.

Model based estimate of transboundary litter pollution on Mediterranean coasts

Plastic litter pollution is one of the major concerns for the health of marine ecosystems worldwide. This pervasive form of pollution affects all oceans and seas and it's interacting with multiple levels of the marine food webs. In the European context, several pieces of legislation try to fight against this pervasive and ubiquitous form of pollution. Recently, EU Member States have agreed to a maximum threshold of litter items per coast length (20 items/100 m coastline). One major concern among stakeholders to reach this consensus was the transboundary litter, as measures need to be implemented in the country of origin. Henceforth, a solid method to estimate the amounts of the transboundary litter to a given Member State's coasts is needed. In this contribution, we use a combination of hydrodynamic and Lagrangian models for the Mediterranean Sea in order to understand the origin of coastal litter. Simulations show that the amount of transboundary litter in Mediterranean countries could be as large as 30% although both regional and seasonal differences could be significant.

Sources of marine litter along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast: Identification, scoring and contribution

The sources of marine litter (ML) pollution along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast in 2019 were identified and categorized to: Public litter, Fishing, Shipping, Sanitary and sewage, Fly tipped, Medical and Non-sourced, following Veiga et al., 2016 approach. Largest was the contribution of Public litter - 48.3% and Non-sourced - 38.5% of the total. Most Public litter items were attributed to recreational activities - 82.9% Public litter Recreation and less to Public litter Smoking-related - 17.1%. Regarding to Non-sourced, the following sub-categories seemed to contribute clearly more: Land (run off) - 8.79% and Tourism beach users - 8.58%. Considerably lower was the contribution of Fishing, Offshore and Shipping. None of the items were attributed to Sewage related. The ML pollution on the individual beaches (10 sites) exhibited largest contribution of Public litter with most significant input of Public litter Recreation, varying from 65.9 to 86.7% between beaches.

Microplastics in the bogue, Boops boops: A snapshot of the past from the southern Tyrrhenian Sea

The present investigation focuses on Boops boops specimens gathered in the Gulf of Patti in 2010. Providing a snapshot from the past, this paper represents, chronologically, the first record of microplastic ingestion in the Mediterranean bogue. The plastic abundance and composition in gastrointestinal tracts of the bogue was assess, in order to improve the knowledge on spatial-temporal variability of microplastics pollution in the Mediterranean basin and in particular, in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. In a total of 65 specimens, 180 particles of plastic (2.8 items/specimens), mainly belonging to microplastics class, were found. Fragments (63%) and fibres (30%) were the predominant shape categories. Eleven polymers were identified: polypropylene and polyethylene were the most abundant. Several synthetic polymers belonging to the class of elastomers were also observed. The study area is strongly influenced by the absence of trawl fishing activities and a low mixing level of the seabed that, together with the confluence of different watercourses and the presence of different kind of anthropic impact, including motorway, could make it a ‘waste disposal site’. Finally, our results suggest the usefulness to retrieve older samples to better understand spatial-temporal changes in marine litter pollution over time.

Marine litter pollution on coral reefs of Darvel Bay (East Sabah, Malaysia)

Marine litter is recognized as an increasing component of marine ecosystem pollution. In this baseline study, we document the magnitude, types, sources, and potential impacts of litter on six coral reefs in East Sabah. We applied a simplified classification of litter to extract abundance data from video transects. The average density was 10.7 items per 100 m2. Plastics represent 91% and the remaining 9% were metal, glass, and wood. Most (~70%) plastics are single-use items derived from dumping. Discarded fishing gear accounts for ~25%. Litter pollution increases closer to urban developments, with Sakar reef having higher densities (51 items per 100 m2), and higher Clean Coast Index (CCI = 10.2, dirty) and higher Plastic Abundance Index (PAI = 4.68) scores. This method could and should be readily integrated into ongoing monitoring programs to support assessments of the extent and magnitude of marine litter pollution on reefs worldwide.

Preliminary Study of the Effect of Tourism Activities on Litter Pollution: A Case Study on Padar Island, Komodo National Park, Indonesia

Preliminary Study of the Effect of Tourism Activities on Litter Pollution: A Case Study on Padar Island, Komodo National Park, Indonesia

Floating Marine Litter in Eastern Mediterranean From Macro to Microplastics: The Lebanese Coastal Area as a Case Study

Despite emerging and increasing concerns related to marine micro and macroplastics, no systematic surveys have been undertaken yet in the Lebanese marine area. To understand the spatio-temporal variation of plastic litter (macro and microplastics) in the Lebanese marine environment and to determine the sources of pollution, this study investigated the characteristics of plastic pollution in sea surface waters during wet and dry seasons in 22 sites of Beirut and Tyre regions. A total of 23,023 items were identified and assessed according to the shape, color, and concentration; moreover, the risk of microplastics (MPs) contamination was explored based on a risk assessment model. The obtained results demonstrated that the average macroplastics concentration was 0.45 ± 0.6 items/m3. The average microplastics concentration was found to be 20.1 ± 21.8 and 3.78 ± 5.2 items/m3 in spring and fall respectively. During fall, MPs fragments were dominant in Beirut (97%) and Tyre (91%), and no pellets were observed. During spring, filaments were most encountered in Beirut (76.5%). The most dominant marine litter color was blue followed by black and white. The Pollution Load Index (PLI) values showed a moderate contamination of the Lebanese coast with MPs (PLI: 5.79 ± 3.93) except for several sites in Beirut that showed high values of PLI, highlighting the local influence of cities and rivers on MPs concentration. This study serves as an important baseline for understanding the characteristics of the seasonal variation of MPs along the Lebanese marine environment; it will help stakeholders and countries to take proactive and reactive actions to face plastic litter pollution in the Lebanese coastal area.

Using nature preserve creek cleanups to quantify anthropogenic litter accumulation in an urban watershed

AbstractUrban watersheds collect anthropogenic litter from populous areas and carry it through creeks and rivers to downstream ecosystems. Aquatic litter pollution has increasingly been addressed w...

Plastic litter pollution along sandy beaches in Puerto Princesa, Palawan Island, Philippines

Marine plastic litter pollution has become an emerging threat to the Philippines, especially in Palawan. This study was conducted to investigate the macroplastic litter and determine the clean-coast index (CCI) of the residential and non-residential sites on the coasts of Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Plastic litters were sampled from 21 coastal barangays by delineating a 50-m-long transect line with three 4 m × 4 m quadrats. The litter sampled were counted and sorted into categories. The results showed that 17 sites were contaminated with plastic litters. In terms of residential and non-residential sites, the east coast has thrice as much plastic, 2.61 items/m2 and 1.26 items/m2 compared to west coast with only 1.57 items/m2 and 0.14 items/m2, respectively. The plastics sampled were predominantly fishing line (nylon), food packaging, and fragments. The calculated CCI revealed that 76% of the sites sampled were categorized as dirty and extremely dirty.

Comparison of biodegradable polyesters degradation behavior in sand

Sandy beaches represent environmental compartments particularly vulnerable to litter pollution, and they reflect the magnitude of pollution of adjacent compartments: water and coastal areas. The substitution of conventional polymers by biodegradable materials is generally considered as an alternative for reducing environmental accumulation of plastic debris. The present study is aimed to investigate the degradation of poly(lactic acid), poly(ε-caprolactone), poly(butylenesuccinate adipate) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) buried in sand for 267 days, simulating them as beach litter. The analysed polyesters showed different degradation mechanisms and kinetics. PLA is mainly subjected to weathering by physical aging; after an initial faster degradation of the amorphous phase, PCL showed a decrease of its degradation rate; similarly to PCL, the degradation of PBSA started from the amorphous phase; PHB is clearly subjected to biological degradation. The degradation trend of the investigated materials in sand decreased in the order PHB > PBSA > PCL > PLA. PLA, PCL and PBSA did not undergo complete degradation in sand during the testing time.