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Quantitative analysis of plastic debris on recreational beaches in Mumbai, India
Summary
A quantitative survey of plastic litter on four beaches in Mumbai, India, found an average of about 69 items and 7.5 grams of plastic per square meter. The study found that small plastic fragments dominated by particle count, confirming that microplastics are a major fraction of plastic pollution even on urban tropical beaches.
Plastic litter was quantified on four sandy beaches in Mumbai. The mean abundance of 7.49 g and 68.83 items per square metre was recorded. The abundance of plastics significantly varied among the beaches showing an increasing trend in the southern part. The abundance of plastics by weight in Dadar was significantly higher than that in Aksa. The size fractionation of plastics proved that small particles (1-20 mm) are predominant with 41.85% microplastics (1-5 mm) which emphasizes the high risk to marine organisms due to possible ingestion. The highest quantity of microplastics was seen in Juhu beach (55.33%) followed by Versova, Aksa and Dadar. The major contributing factors for the abundance are beach usage for different activities such as recreational, religious and fishing which suggest that the land-based sources provide major inputs to plastic pollution in these beaches.