First evidence of microplastic pollution in the El Quetzalito sand beach of the Guatemalan Caribbean

Mazariegos-Ortíz, Carlos; Rosales, María de los Ángeles; Carrillo-Ovalle, Leonel; Cardoso, Renan Pereira; Muniz, Marcelo Costa; Anjos, R. M.

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111220

Cited by 56 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Previous research has documented macro and microplastics in beach sediments (Bosker et al, 2018;Mazariegos-Ortiz et al, 2020;de Scisciolo et al, 2016;Delvalle de Borrero et al, 2020) from the Caribbean region, yet few have assessed those in the marine ecosystem (Kutralam-Muniasamy et al, 2020). In this study, the quantities of microplastics varied considerably between different environmental compartments and locations, i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Source, sea and sink—A holistic approach to understanding plastic pollution in the Southern Caribbean

Courtene‐Jones

Maddalene

James

et al. 2021

Science of The Total Environment

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Marine plastics are considered to be a major threat to the sustainable use of marine and coastal resources of the Caribbean, on which the region relies heavily for tourism and fishing. To date, little work has quantified plastics within the Caribbean marine environment or examined their potential sources. This study aimed to address this by holistically integrating marine (surface water, subsurface water and sediment) and terrestrial sampling and Lagrangian particle tracking to examine the potential origins, flows and quantities of plastics within the Southern Caribbean. Terrestrial litter and the microplastics identified in marine samples may arise from the maritime and tourism industries, both of which are major contributors to the economies of the Caribbean region. The San Blas islands, Panama had the highest abundance of microplastics at a depth of 25 m, and significantly greater quantities in surface water than recorded in the other countries. Modelling indicated the microplastics likely arose from mainland Panama, which has some of the highest levels of mismanaged waste. Antigua had among the lowest quantities of terrestrial and marine plastics, yet the greatest diversity of polymers. Modelling indicated the majority of the microplastics in Antiguan coastal surface were likely to have originated from the wider North Atlantic Ocean. Ocean currents influence the movements of plastics and thus the relative contributions arising from local and distant sources which become distributed within a country's territorial water. These transboundary movements can undermine local or national legislation aimed at reducing plastic pollution. While this study presents

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Source, sea and sink—A holistic approach to understanding plastic pollution in the Southern Caribbean

Courtene‐Jones

Maddalene

James

et al. 2021

Science of The Total Environment

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“…Although primary microplastics (those already manufactured with ≤5.0 mm size) account for less than 5% of marine ones ( Boucher et al, 2020 ), the banning of plastic microbeads in personal care products has gained global influence since 2012 ( Dauvergne, 2018 ). In this manner, LAC should join this trend to reduce their presence in the coastal and marine environments ( Mazariegos-Ortíz et al, 2020 ), increasing anti-microbead activism, public concern, voluntary corporate phasedowns, and governmental bans ( Dauvergne, 2018 ). Moreover, synthetic microfibers from textile goods account for 35% of MPs in the ocean ( Boucher et al, 2020 ), providing a global flow to aquatic environments of 0.28 million tons/year ( Belzagui et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing threats, regulations, and strategies to abate plastic pollution in LAC beaches during COVID-19 pandemic

Alfonso

Arias

Menéndez

et al. 2021

Ocean & Coastal Management

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“…Representative microplastic particles were removed from samples using tweezers and stored on microscope slides until the final quantification and identification by type, size (length of fibres and cross-section of other particles) and colour. Microplastic abundance was expressed in particles per square meters (Mazariegos-Ortiz et al, 2020).…”

Section: Beach Microlitter Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assesment of the Marine Litter on the Romanian Black Sea Beaches

Szabová¹,

Nenciu²,

Creangă³

et al. 2021

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"The paper presents the results of seasonal marine litter surveys carried out during the period 2018 – 2019 along the Romanian littoral of the Black Sea on 3 sandy beaches differing in their touristic exploitation and urbanisation. The assessment of abundance and composition of macrolitter (> 2.5 cm) and microplastics (1-5 mm) followed the monitoring methodology described in the EU MSFD TG10 guidance (Galgani et al., 2013). Out of the fifty-five litter types mostly monitored, cigarettes buts and plastic/polystyrene pieces (2.5 cm - 50 cm) made up the highest contribution with more than 50% in all years. The mean abundance of total microplastics ranged from 4 and 272 particles/m2 among sites; the microplastics were mostly expanded polystyrene (EPS), fragments and films. The microplastic abundance in touristic beaches of Mamaia resort (Marina Regia and Malibu) was between 2 and 30 times higher than in protected wild areas (Vadu). Overall, the different types and quantities of marine litter found during our study were related to differences in human activities set up in all three locations in touristic and post-touristic season 2018 and 2019. The highest macrolitter and microplastic concentrations were recorded in the southern area of Mamaia summer resort (Malibu beach) indicating that beside the level of coastal infrastructure development, the seasonal tourists and local population density are important factors affecting marine litter pollution level on the Romanian beaches. Key-Words: marine litter, macrolitter, microplastics, beach sediment, Black Sea "

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First evidence of microplastic pollution in the El Quetzalito sand beach of the Guatemalan Caribbean

Cited by 56 publications

References 34 publications

Source, sea and sink—A holistic approach to understanding plastic pollution in the Southern Caribbean

Source, sea and sink—A holistic approach to understanding plastic pollution in the Southern Caribbean

Assessing threats, regulations, and strategies to abate plastic pollution in LAC beaches during COVID-19 pandemic

Assesment of the Marine Litter on the Romanian Black Sea Beaches

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