Microplastic contamination and fluxes in a touristic area at the SE Gulf of California

Microplastics (MPs) are long-lasting anthropogenic pollutants, observed in all types of natural environments. The MPs abundance and their temporal variability in beach sands, surface waters (manta trawl), and suspended sediments (sediment trap) were assessed in Mazatlán, Mexico, a tourism destinatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2021-09, Vol.170, p.112638-112638, Article 112638
Main Authors: Rios-Mendoza, Lorena M., Ontiveros-Cuadras, Jorge Feliciano, Leon-Vargas, Daniela, Ruiz-Fernández, Ana Carolina, Rangel-García, Martín, Pérez-Bernal, Libia Hascibe, Sanchez-Cabeza, Joan-Albert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropogenic factors
Beaches
Coastal zone
Contamination
Fluxes
Gulf of California large marine ecosystem
Human influences
Microplastics
Pacific Ocean
Plastic pollution
Pollutants
Polyethylene
Polyethylene terephthalate
Polymers
Polypropylene
Population density
Rain
Rainfall
Rural areas
Sand
Sediment
Sediment samples
Sediment traps
Sediments
Surface water
Suspended sediments
Temporal variations
Tourism
Tropical coastal environment
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Summary:Microplastics (MPs) are long-lasting anthropogenic pollutants, observed in all types of natural environments. The MPs abundance and their temporal variability in beach sands, surface waters (manta trawl), and suspended sediments (sediment trap) were assessed in Mazatlán, Mexico, a tourism destination on the northern Pacific coast, under the hypothesis that MP contamination is influenced by rainfall and population density. The MP concentrations in beach sands from urban and rural areas nearby Mazatlán (4–36 MPs m−2) and in surface waters (1.7–2.0 MPs m−3) were comparable between type of sampling sites; whereas the MP fluxes in sediment trap samples varied widely (40–782 MPs m−2 day−1) with highest values during the rainfall season. The MPs recovered were mostly white/clear (48–54%), and the prevailing shapes were fragments in beach sands and surface waters (59–80%), and fibers (75%) in suspended sediments. The synthetic polymers polypropylene, polyethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate were the most abundant in the study area. [Display omitted] •MP abundances were comparable between rural and urban beaches.•Wastewater discharge is the most plausible MPs source for surface coastal waters.•MP fluxes were significantly (p 
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112638