Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 145, Issue -, Pages 219-223Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.05.049
Keywords
Plastic; Pollution; Polymer; Environmental monitoring; Brazilian coast
Funding
- Pro-Reitoria de Pesquisa e Pasgraduacao, Universidade Federal do Para (PROPESP/UFPA) [05/2018, 01/2019]
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq) [438075/2018-8]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Microplastics (MPs) are widespread and cause many impacts, yet their distribution and abundance are unknown for the Amazon coast. We estimated the abundance and distribution of microplastics at a sandy beach on the northern Brazilian coast during April 2014. Sand was collected and analyzed at three depth strata (0-20, 20-40 and 40-60 cm). MPs (250-500, 501-5000 mu m) from each depth were sieved and retrieved by flotation when necessary. We found 492.5 +/- 556.4 particles m(-3), with fibers comprising up to 95%. The abundance decreased with depth (61.5, 25 and 13.5% from the surface to 40-60 cm) and the deposition zone showed higher densities compared to the erosion zone. Although present in low to moderate abundance, MPs were widespread on the beach. The Amazon coast is an important area for fisheries and traditional communities, and further studies of its potential as a source or sink of MPs are needed.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available