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Fragmented marine plastics as the prevalent litter type on a small island beach in the Adriatic
Summary
Researchers sampled plastic litter on a sandy beach on the small Croatian island of Ilovik in the Northern Adriatic on three occasions in 2013, 2020, and 2022 using quadrat methods along upper and lower strandlines, finding average concentrations of 385, 1,095, and 129 items/m2 respectively. The study found that fragmented plastic was the dominant litter type and that concentrations fluctuated substantially between surveys, reflecting variable marine debris influx to this island beach.
The problem of plastic pollution, particularly of the marine environment, has surged in recent years, prompting focused efforts on quantification, impact assessment, material innovation, and legislative action. Our study investigates the extensive plastic contamination of a sandy beach on a small Croatian Island of Ilovik, Northern Adriatic. The beach was sampled on three occasions, in 2013, 2020 and 2022, using 1 m2 quadrats placed along the lower and upper strandlines, resulting in average litter concentrations of 385 ± 106, 1,095 ± 522 and 129 ± 37 item m-2, respectively. The lower size limit of collected litter was 1 mm, thus including large microplastics. Plastic fragments (49 – 74 Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/555216/document