The cotton buds beach: Marine litter assessment along the Tyrrhenian coast of central Italy following the marine strategy framework directive criteria.
We assessed the annual accumulation rates of beach litter on the Tyrrhenian coast of central Italy, providing the characterization of litter following European standardized guidelines. Three different sites of a beach were sampled seasonally from spring 2014 to winter 2015. A total of 31,739 items were removed and classified into 103 categories. Plastic represented the majority (94.4%) of the collected items. We detected temporal and spatial differences in the abundance and composition of litter between seasons and between sites. Furthermore, we found that plastic cotton bud sticks composed >30% of the total amount of litter and, together with plastic and polystyrene pieces, made up >70% of the total items. Finally, our results led us to propose that the most effective strategy to reduce litter pollution is to devise specific management procedures focusing on the most abundant items.
Department of Sciences, University of Rome Tre, Viale Marconi, 446, 00146 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: gianluca.poeta@uniroma3.it.
Gianluca
G
Poeta
"Torre Flavia Natural Monument" LTER (Long Term Environmental Research) Research Site, Servizio Aree protette - parchi regionali, Province of Rome, via Tiburtina, 691, 00159 Rome, Italy.
Corrado
C
Battisti
Dipartimento di Bioscienze e Territorio, Università degli Studi del Molise, C.da Fonte Lappone, 86090 Pesche, IS, Italy.
Manuele
M
Bazzichetto
Department of Sciences, University of Rome Tre, Viale Marconi, 446, 00146 Rome, Italy.
Alicia T R
AT
Acosta
D001493:Bathing Beaches / Q000592:standards*; D032561:Cotton Fiber; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D007558:Italy; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis*; D011137:Polystyrenes / Q000032:analysis; D012015:Reference Standards; D012621:Seasons; D013048:Specimen Handling; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis*
D010969:Plastics; D011137:Polystyrenes; D014866:Waste Products
Accumulation rates; Beach litter; Litter sampling; Marine debris; Marine strategy; Plastic