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The environmental legacy of coastal sandbags
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This perspective paper highlighted the underappreciated environmental impacts of plastic sandbags used for coastal flood and erosion control, including microplastic generation and chemical leaching as bags degrade and are abandoned. The authors called for improved regulation, environmental impact assessment integration, and promotion of biodegradable alternatives.
Coastal sandbagging is widely used as a flood and erosion mitigation technique, especially in emergency situations. The prolonged presence or abandonment of plastic-based sandbags can result in significant environmental impacts, including disrupted sediment transport, habitat degradation, and the generation of microplastics and chemical pollutants. Despite their widespread use, the environmental legacy of plastic sandbags remains poorly documented and largely excluded from coastal litter datasets. This perspective paper emphasizes the urgent need for improved regulation, integration of sandbag deployment into environmental impact assessments, and post-use management protocols. Sustainable alternatives, such as biodegradable bags, reusable modular systems, and nature-based solutions, offer viable pathways for minimizing harm. Coastal protection strategies must evolve to ensure short-term defense actions do not compromise long-term environmental integrity.
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Progress on microplastics pollution and its ecological effects in the coastal environment
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This review systematically summarizes a decade of research on microplastic pollution and its ecological effects in coastal environments worldwide, identifying persistent technical challenges in sampling standardization, particle identification, and ecological impact assessment. Researchers highlight the need for unified methodologies to better understand the sources, fate, and biological consequences of coastal microplastic contamination.
Assessing the Impact of Microplastic Pollution on Coastal Ecosystems: a Multidimensional Environmental Approach
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This review presents a comprehensive multidimensional analysis of microplastic pollution in coastal ecosystems, covering sources, distribution pathways, ecological effects on marine organisms, and implications for environmental management. The authors draw on recent interdisciplinary research to assess how microplastics infiltrate nearly every ecological compartment from coastal waters to ocean sediments and interact with biological and chemical systems.
Assessing the Impact of Microplastic Pollution on Coastal Ecosystems: a Multidimensional Environmental Approach
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This review presents a comprehensive multidimensional analysis of microplastic pollution in coastal ecosystems, examining how microplastics alter sediment dynamics, disrupt marine food webs, and interact synergistically with heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants to create a complex environmental crisis requiring integrative management solutions.
Explore the Impact of Marine Plastic Pollution and Countermeasures
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This paper reviewed the scope of marine plastic pollution, its distribution across ocean ecosystems, and its socioeconomic effects on coastal communities, finding that existing international agreements and waste management efforts remain insufficient to address the scale of the problem.
Emerging and legacy plasticisers in coastal and estuarine environments: A review
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This review examined the occurrence and fate of legacy and emerging plasticizers in coastal and estuarine environments, highlighting the chemical risks posed by these plastic additives beyond the physical effects of microplastics themselves.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.