Cotton buds: The new villain of the marine litter story in the coastal lagoon

Plastic bags, bottles, packing tapes, and fishing lines are at the forefront of the discussion on plastic pollution in the oceans. However, scientific interest on the role of cotton buds in such context is rapidly increasing, as these objects continue to be widely used and discarded improperly. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the abundance and fate of cotton buds as a case study in the Küçükçekmece Lagoon. At two sampling stations, the pebbly beach and the rocky beach, a total of 854 cotton buds were found over the course of six months with an average value of 71.16 litters m-2 per month. The similarity of months of occurrence in summer and autumn was statistically significant. However, in November and December, when meteorological conditions were more severe, significant similarity was observed. Furthermore, the results of the potential environmental hazard, risk assessment, and carbonyl index were used to provide answers to the main problems of cotton bud pollution. Consequently, the hazard level was classified as either III or IV and the risk level was determined unfriendly. In total, 44.5% of the samples had a high level of oxidation. EDX analysis also confirmed that the biofilm influenced the accumulation of metals on the plastic surface. Overall, the results have addressed the issues that should be considered in improving the management strategies for plastics, which can be implemented to reduce the environmental impact of plastics and achieved the main objective of raising awareness on the accumulation of plastic waste generated by anthropogenic activities in coastal areas.