Degree of pollution by benthic litter in beaches in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

Benthic litter has become a problem not only to the environment, but also to managers, due to its difficult access. Thus, little is still known about its impacts and behaviors as a type of pollution. The objective of the present study was to carry out a quali-quantitative analysis of the benthic litter of three beaches in Salvador, Brazil, so to investigate the sources of the pollution and possible mitigating actions. Three sampling campaigns were carried out between the years of 2012 and 2013. Transects measuring 100 m were placed perpendicularly to the coastline at each beach and, using scuba diving equipment, all benthic litter was gathered up to 1 m to each side of the axis cable. All items were sorted and analyzed regarding the type of material and possible sources. An adapted CCI was used to classify each beach and variance was analyzed through the Kruskal-Wallis test among sites and dates. During this period the beaches varied from very clean to extremely dirty regarding the accumulation of benthic litter. Plastic was the most common type of material and factors such as proximity with possible sources of pollution and hydrodynamics played an important role in the observed results. There were no significant differences among sites and dates. Actions to promote public awareness among the population that frequents these beaches are crucial to mitigate the situation, considering that the main litter sources were local. Moreover, current public beach cleaning efforts have shown to be ineffective.

Characteristics of Marine Litters in the West Coast of Bali

“…During west season (Feb 2016), the transect lines near the coastline account the total collected litters 252 items and 3.3 kg while those from the transect lines further offshore were only 196 items and 1.52 kg. The dominance of inorganic materials found for the seabed litters in the current study is in agreement with similar studies in Brazil (Fernandino et al, 2015) and in the Mediterranean (Pasquini et al, 2016) During the transitional season (west season has been weaken) the item and the total amount of litters are equivalent for all transect lines but far much less. This could be related to the fact that most litters were already transported back to the open ocean.…”

Diagnóstico do lixo marinho na Praia de Navegantes/SC em períodos de baixa e alta vazão do Rio Itajaí-Açu

“…Essa situação tende a se agravar em eventos de enxurradas e inundações que contribuem para maior deposição desses materiais no ambiente costeiro. Além disso, as águas pluviais drenadas através de galerias que deságuam diretamente na faixa de areia também contribuem para a entrada de lixo nas praias, e quando associado à ação dos ventos, trazem para o ambiente marinho o lixo de origem terrestre (Fernandino et al, 2015).…”

Considerations on the effects of tidal regimes in the movement of floating litter in an estuarine environment: Case study of the estuarine system of Santos-São Vicente, Brazil

“…All floating litter items observed were classified according to material: plastic, metal, cloth, rubber, glass/ceramic, paper/cardboard, and others (Cheshire et al, 2009;Zhou et al, 2011;Fernandino et al, 2015). Their most probable origins (sources) were inferred according to surrounding characteristics and distributed into the following source categories: domestic, tourism/recreation, fisheries, hospital, and indeterminate (Fernandino et al, in press).…”