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Unraveling Macroplastic Pollution in Rural and Urban Beaches in Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape, Mindanao, Philippines
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Researchers surveyed macroplastic pollution on urban and rural beaches in Sarangani Bay, Philippines, finding significantly higher plastic densities in urban areas (0.66 items/m2) compared to rural beaches (0.29 items/m2), with food packaging like polyethylene bags being the most prevalent litter type.
Plastic pollution in the ocean is an emerging environmental concern in the Philippines. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of macroplastics, composition of plastic litter, and the clean-coast index (CCI) of urban and rural beaches in Sarangani Bay. Plastic litter was collected by delineating a 100-m transecting line with three 4 m × 4 m quadrats. The density of macroplastic litter in urban areas (0.66 items m−2) was significantly higher than in rural areas (0.29 items m−2). The plastics sampled were predominantly food packaging, such as polyethylene bags, which are locally known as sando bags. The accumulation rate of macroplastic litter ranged from 0.07 items d−1 m−2 to 0.40 items d−1 m−2, in which urban beaches (0.25 items d−1 m−2) have a significantly higher accumulation rate than rural beaches (0.11 items d−1 m−2). Overall, the calculated CCI of the beaches of Sarangani Bay was categorized as clean to moderately clean for rural beaches and moderately clean to extremely dirty for urban beaches.
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Spatiotemporal variations in rural and urban beach microplastics accumulation in sediment along Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape, Mindanao, the Philippines
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Researchers measured microplastic contamination in beach sand at urban and rural sites along a protected seascape in the Philippines across wet and dry seasons. They found significantly higher microplastic levels during the wet season, particularly at urban beaches, likely because rainfall washes more plastic debris from land into waterways. The most common plastics identified were polyester and polyethylene, suggesting sources from textiles and common consumer packaging.
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Researchers assessed the prevalence, types, and density of macroplastic litter in the coastal seabeds of Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Philippines, using 100-meter transect lines with quadrat sampling across four sites including residential, mangrove, tourism, and non-residential areas. Results showed all four sites were contaminated with plastic litter, with the residential site (Pikalawag) having the highest density at 1.32 items per square meter, and food packaging, plastic fragments, and plastic bags being the dominant waste types dominated by LDPE polymer.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.