Origin of marine debris is related to disposable packs of ultra-processed food.
Marine debris is currently distributed worldwide, and the discard and contamination pose hazards to human and wildlife health. One of the gaps in debris science is tracking the source of debris to better evaluate and avoid the pathway of debris from the source to marine environment. For this, we evaluated three beaches of different urbanization levels and environmental influences; a low urbanized beach, a highly urbanized beach and a non-urbanized estuary-associated beach, in order to determine the sources and original use of debris. Plastic was the major material found on beaches, and the urbanized beach recorded the highest debris densities. Marine debris was primarily from land-based sources, and the debris recorded in all beaches was mainly assigned as food-related items. Our results highlight the major presence of disposable and short-lived products comprising the majority of debris that enters the ocean and draw attention to the unsustainable lifestyle of current society.
Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, 29075-910 Vitória, ES, Brazil. Electronic address: ryanandrades@gmail.com.
Ryan
R
Andrades
Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, 29075-910 Vitória, ES, Brazil.
Agnaldo S
AS
Martins
Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, 29075-910 Vitória, ES, Brazil.
Lorena M
LM
Fardim
Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, 29075-910 Vitória, ES, Brazil.
Juliana S
JS
Ferreira
Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Av. Lourival Melo Mota, s/n, Cidade Universitária 57072-900 Maceió, AL, Brazil.
Robson G
RG
Santos
D001493:Bathing Beaches; D001938:Brazil; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D063366:Estuaries; D018857:Food Packaging; D006801:Humans; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis; D014507:Urbanization; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis*
D010969:Plastics; D014866:Waste Products
Beaches; Brazil; Marine litter; Plastic pollution