Title |
Plastic litter pollution along sandy beaches in Puerto Princesa, Palawan Island, Philippines |
Authors |
Recca E. Sajorne, Hernando P. Bacosa, Genese Divine B. Cayabo, Lucio B. Ardines Jr, Joel D.C. Sumeldan, Jhonamie M. Omar, Lota A. Creencia |
Publication date |
2021 |
Journal |
Marine Pollution Bulletin |
Volume |
169 |
Pages |
112520 |
Publisher |
Elsevier |
Abstract |
Marine plastic litter pollution has become an emerging threat to the Philippines, especially in Palawan. This
study was conducted to investigate the macroplastic litter and determine the clean-coast index (CCI) of the
residential and non-residential sites on the coasts of Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Plastic litters were sampled from
21 coastal barangays by delineating a 50-m-long transect line with three 4 m 脙聴 4 m quadrats. The litter sampled
were counted and sorted into categories. The results showed that 17 sites were contaminated with plastic litters.
In terms of residential and non-residential sites, the east coast has thrice as much plastic, 2.61 items/m2 and 1.26
items/m2 compared to west coast with only 1.57 items/m2 and 0.14 items/m2, respectively. The plastics sampled
were predominantly fishing line (nylon), food packaging, and fragments. The calculated CCI revealed that 76% of
the sites sampled were categorized as dirty and extremely dirty. |
Index terms / Keywords |
Beach, Clean-coast index (CCI), Macroplastic, Marine plastic litter, Nylon, Palawan |
DOI |
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