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Occurrence and characteristics of microplastics on insular beaches in the Western Tropical Atlantic Ocean
Summary
Researchers sampled microplastics on beaches of three remote Brazilian oceanic islands in the western tropical Atlantic and found particles on two of the three islands, with fragments being the most common type. The presence of microplastics even on these isolated islands confirms that ocean currents carry plastic contamination far from coastal population centers.
Microplastics are widespread throughout oceans and seas and beaches are no exceptions. On beach sediments, microplastics (<5mm) are commonly prevalent over macroplastics (>5mm), where fragments of larger items are sampled in greater amounts. The occurrence and characteristics of microplastics were investigated on beaches of Fernando de Noronha, Abrolhos and Trindade islands located in the western tropical Atlantic Ocean. Despite no microplastic was identified in Abrolhos at this time, small spatial variations were detected in Fernando de Noronha and Trindade islands, highlighting the importance of oceanographic variables on plastics distribution and accumulation over time.