Quantitative analysis of plastic debris on recreational beaches in Mumbai, India

•Plastic litter in sediment was quantified on four sandy beaches of Mumbai, India.•Spatial and temporal variations in plastic accumulation are reported.•Increasing trend in plastic abundance from north to south was observed.•Small plastics were numerically predominant with 41.85% microplastics.•Beac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2013-12, Vol.77 (1-2), p.107-112
Main Authors: Jayasiri, H.B., Purushothaman, C.S., Vennila, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Bathing Beaches - statistics & numerical data
Beaches
Biological and medical sciences
Debris
Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution
Environmental Monitoring
fractionation
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
India
ingestion
Marine and brackish environment
Microplastics
Mumbai
particles
Plastics
Plastics - analysis
quantitative analysis
recreation
risk
Sea water ecosystems
Synecology
Waste Products - analysis
water pollution
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Summary:•Plastic litter in sediment was quantified on four sandy beaches of Mumbai, India.•Spatial and temporal variations in plastic accumulation are reported.•Increasing trend in plastic abundance from north to south was observed.•Small plastics were numerically predominant with 41.85% microplastics.•Beach usage is the major contributing factor for plastic pollution. Plastic litter was quantified on four sandy beaches in Mumbai. The mean abundance of 7.49g and 68.83 items per square metre was recorded. The abundance of plastics significantly varied among the beaches showing an increasing trend in the southern part. The abundance of plastics by weight in Dadar was significantly higher than that in Aksa. The size fractionation of plastics proved that small particles (1–20mm) are predominant with 41.85% microplastics (1–5mm) which emphasizes the high risk to marine organisms due to possible ingestion. The highest quantity of microplastics was seen in Juhu beach (55.33%) followed by Versova, Aksa and Dadar. The major contributing factors for the abundance are beach usage for different activities such as recreational, religious and fishing which suggest that the land-based sources provide major inputs to plastic pollution in these beaches.
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.10.024