| Title |
Unraveling Macroplastic Pollution in Rural and Urban Beaches in Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape, Mindanao, Philippines |
|
Authors |
Frank T. Acot, Jr. , Recca E. Sajorne, Nur-Ayn K. Omar, Peter D. Suson, Lynn Esther E. Rallos, and Hernando P. Bacosa |
|
Publication date |
2022 |
|
Journal |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
| Volume |
10 |
| Pages |
1532 |
| Publisher |
MDPI |
| Abstract |
Plastic pollution in the ocean is an emerging environmental concern in the Philippines. This
study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of macroplastics, composition of plastic litter, and
the clean-coast index (CCI) of urban and rural beaches in Sarangani Bay. Plastic litter was collected
by delineating a 100-m transecting line with three 4 m 脙聴 4 m quadrats. The density of macroplastic
litter in urban areas (0.66 items m芒聢聮2) was significantly higher than in rural areas (0.29 items m芒聢聮2). The
plastics sampled were predominantly food packaging, such as polyethylene bags, which are locally
known as sando bags. The accumulation rate of macroplastic litter ranged from 0.07 items d芒聢聮1 m芒聢聮2
to 0.40 items d芒聢聮1 m芒聢聮2 , in which urban beaches (0.25 items d芒聢聮1 m芒聢聮2) have a significantly higher
accumulation rate than rural beaches (0.11 items d芒聢聮1 m芒聢聮2). Overall, the calculated CCI of the beaches
of Sarangani Bay was categorized as clean to moderately clean for rural beaches and moderately
clean to extremely dirty for urban beaches. |
| Index terms / Keywords |
Clean-coast index (CCI); marine litter; accumulation; density |
| DOI |
do: 10.3390/jmse10101532 |
| URL |
|
Mindanao State
University - Iligan Institute of Technology