Macro-, meso- and microplastic debris in the beaches of Tuticorin district, Southeast coast of India

Jeyasanta, K. Immaculate; Sathish, Narmatha; Patterson, Jamila; Edward, J. K. Patterson

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111055

Cited by 140 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…This (relatively) rapid size reduction leads to particles which can be even harder to see. Compounding this is the fact, most of the secondary micro-and meso-plastic pieces are white-to-colorless (Hidalgo-Ruz et al, 2012;Zobkov and Esiukova, 2018;Lacerda et al, 2019;Jeyasanta et al, 2020), as it was the case in our study. Many of these colorless pieces (<25 mm) are undercounted using naked eye methods (Angelini et al, 2019), even by experienced observers (Lavers et al, 2016) and professional beach cleaners.…”

Section: Work Stepsupporting

confidence: 56%

Marine Litter Pollution in Baltic Sea Beaches – Application of the Sand Rake Method

Haseler

Balčiūnas

Hauk

et al. 2020

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Most marine litter monitoring methods used on beaches focus on macro-litter (>25 mm) only and show shortcomings regarding smaller litter classes (<25 mm), especially at Baltic Sea beaches. Therefore, we used a sand rake method developed for large micro- (2–5 mm), and meso- (5–25 mm) litter to quantify the overall pollution status of Baltic Sea beaches and to test if the method is useful in terms of the requirements of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Between July 2017 and October 2019, 197 sand rake method surveys were carried out at 35 regions around the Baltic Sea. In total, 9345 litter pieces were found on an area of 10,271 m2 of which 69.9% were 2–25 mm in size. Artificial polymers (4921 litter pieces) were predominant (mean 52.7% ± 13.3). Abundance of litter was 0.91 pieces/m2 ± 1.50 (median 0.40 pieces/m2). The most common litter were industrial pellets (19.8%), non-identifiable plastic pieces 2–25 mm (17.3%), cigarette butts (15.3%), and paraffin (11.9%). At 15 surveys at the German North Sea island of Sylt the litter abundance ranged from 0.45 pieces/m2 (median) to 0.59 pieces/m2 ± 0.37 (mean). Here, 69.2% of the litter was 2–25 mm in size and paraffin was predominant (69.2%). Beaches show a high pollution level with large micro- and meso-litter (2–25 mm) and our data can serve as a Baltic-wide pollution baseline. In contrast to the naked eye OSPAR method for macro-litter, the sand rake method is generally applicable on all sandy beaches, both urban and remote. This method also allows for the provision of a full spatial pollution pattern and can serve for assessing the effectiveness of marine litter mitigation measures.

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Section: Work Stepsupporting

confidence: 56%

Marine Litter Pollution in Baltic Sea Beaches – Application of the Sand Rake Method

Haseler

Balčiūnas

Hauk

et al. 2020

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…Also, gloves are made from several materials, including chloroethene polymers, neoprene, and vinyl. These plastic products could be categorized as macro- and mesoplastics, and can enter the environment through poor waste management or improper discharge into the marine and terrestrial ecosystems ( Jeyasanta et al, 2020 ; Silva et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over the years, our global ocean, seas, and coastal environments have been directly and indirectly riddled with billions of tons of plastic marine debris produced from human-mediated activities ( Fred-Ahmadu et al, 2020a ; Nghiem et al, 2020 ). Plastic in our oceans can come from both land-based or marine sources, and are mostly categorized into nanoplastics (particulate size range between 1 – 100 nm), microplastics (MPs) (particulate size range between 1 μm – 5 mm), mesoplastics (particulate size range between 2.5 cm – 5 mm), and macroplastics (particulate size range >2.5 cm) ( Benson & Fred-Ahmadu, 2020 ; Fred-Ahmadu et al, 2020b ; Jeyasanta et al, 2020 ). Approximately 80% of global ocean plastics arise from land-based sources while about 20% are attributed to marine sources ( Li et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID pollution: impact of COVID-19 pandemic on global plastic waste footprint

Benson

Bassey²,

Thavamani

2021

Heliyon

398

234

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Plastic products play significant roles in protecting people during COVID pandemic. The widespread use of protective gear created a massive disruption both in the supply chain and waste disposal system. Millions of discarded single-use plastics (masks, gloves, aprons, and bottles of sanitizers) have been added to the terrestrial environment and could cause a surge in plastics washing up the ocean coastlines and littering the seabed. This paper attempts to bring out the environmental footprints of the global plastic wastes generated during COVID19 and analyse the potential impacts associated with plastic pollution. The amount of plastic wastes generated worldwide since the outbreak is estimated at 1.6 million tonnes/day. We estimate that approximately 3.4 billion single-use facemasks or face shields are discarded daily as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, globally. Our comprehensive data analysis does indicate that COVID-19 will reverse the momentum of a years-long global battle to reduce plastic waste. As governments are looking to turbo-charge the economy by supporting businesses weather the pandemic, there is an opportunity to rebuild new industries which can innovate on new reusable or non-plastic PPEs. The unanticipated occurrence of a pandemic of this scale has resulted in the unmanageable level of biomedical plastic wastes. This expert insight is an attempt to raise awareness, for the adoption of dynamic waste management strategies targeted at reducing environmental contamination by plastics during COVID19 pandemic.

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“…Concentrations of MaP on shorelines differentiates between the northern and southern hemisphere (data based on[115,122,144,149,[151][152][153][154][155][156][157][158][159][160][161][162][163]). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Way of Macroplastic through the Environment

et al. 2020

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With the focus on microplastic in current research, macroplastic is often not further considered. Thus, this review paper is the first to analyse the entry paths, accumulation zones, and sinks of macroplastic in the aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric environment by presenting transport paths and concentrations in the environment as well as related risks. This is done by applying the Source–Pathway–Receptor model on macroplastic in the environment. Based on this model, the life cycle of macroplastic is structurally described, and knowledge gaps are identified. Hence, current research aspects on macroplastic as well as a sound delimitation between macro- and microplastic that can be applied to future research are indicated. The results can be used as basic information for further research and show a qualitative assessment of the impact of macroplastic that ends up in the environment and accumulates there. Furthermore, the applied model allows for the first time a quantitative and structured approach to macroplastic in the environment.

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Macro-, meso- and microplastic debris in the beaches of Tuticorin district, Southeast coast of India

Cited by 140 publications

References 43 publications

Marine Litter Pollution in Baltic Sea Beaches – Application of the Sand Rake Method

Marine Litter Pollution in Baltic Sea Beaches – Application of the Sand Rake Method

COVID pollution: impact of COVID-19 pandemic on global plastic waste footprint

The Way of Macroplastic through the Environment

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