| Abstract |
Plastic pollution is an arising problem of our generation. Tons of plastics are globally produced affecting different
coastal ecosystems. Plastics pile and end up in coastal areas, at the ocean surface, and in the coastal seabed. Almost
70% of plastics made are known to eventually sink in water, and it is suspected that ever-increasing amounts of plastics
are accumulating in seabed sediments. However, there are limited studies on macroplastics in coastal seabeds in the
different coastal ecosystems in the Philippines. This study aims to determine the prevalence, types, and density of
macroplastic litters in the coastal seabed of Sultan Naga Dimaporo (SND), Lanao del Norte. A 100-m transect line with
four quadrats measuring 5 m x 5 m, was delineated parallel to the seabed at the beaches of Barangay Pikalawag,
Dabliston, Koreo and Sugod. Results revealed that all four sites were contaminated with plastic litter in which 55% were
from Pikalawag, a residential area, 16% from Dabliston, a mangrove area, 15% from Sugod, a beach/tourism area, and
14% from Koreo, a non-residential area. The plastic density was 1.32 items/m for Pikalawag, and 0.32 to 0.37 items/m
for the other areas. The waste collected was primarily food packaging (17%), plastic fragments (16%), and plastic bags
(11%). The highest polymer type was LDPE (40%) followed by both multilayers (13%) and PET (13%). Based on the clean
coast-index, Pikalawag can be categorized as extremely dirty while the other three sites were moderately clean. Overall,
this study showed how the prevalence and composition of plastic litter vary in different coastal seabeds in SND, Lanao
del Norte. |
Mindanao State
University - Iligan Institute of Technology