Fragmented marine plastics as the prevalent litter type on a small island beach in the Adriatic

Ana Markić; Neven Iveša; Andrea Budiša; Ines Kovačić; Petra Burić; Emina Pustijanac; Moira Buršić; Benjamin Banai; Dora Pokas Legin; Andreja Palatinus; Pero Tutman

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116467

Fragmented marine plastics as the prevalent litter type on a small island beach in the Adriatic

Mar Pollut Bull. 2024 May 13:203:116467. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116467. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ MoreSe, Non-profit organisation, Franje Iskre 4, 52210 Rovinj, Croatia; Blue Spark, Environmental Consultancy, Put za Marleru 20, 52204 Ližnjan, Croatia. Electronic address: sve.se.more@gmail.com.
² Faculty of Natural Sciences, Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Zagrebačka 30, 52100 Pula, Croatia.
³ MoreSe, Non-profit organisation, Franje Iskre 4, 52210 Rovinj, Croatia; Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Droevendaalsesteeg 10, 6708 PB Wageningen, Netherlands.
⁴ Faculty of Educational Sciences, Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Zagrebačka 30, 52100 Pula, Croatia.
⁵ Banai Analitika, obrt za obradu podataka, vl. Benjamin Banai, Josipa Jurja Strossmayera 341, Osijek, Croatia.
⁶ Poslovno svetovanje, Andreja Palatinus s.p., Pot v dolino 3C, 1261 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
⁷ Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Šetalište Ivana Meštovića 63, 21000 Split, Croatia.

PMID: 38744047
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116467

Abstract

The issue of plastic pollution has dramatically intensified in the recent years. Our study investigates extensive plastic contamination of a sandy beach on a small Adriatic island. The beach was sampled on three occasions, in 2013, 2020 and 2022, using 1 m² quadrats placed along the lower and upper strandlines, resulting in average litter concentrations of 385 ± 106, 1095 ± 522 and 129 ± 37 item m^-2, respectively. The lower size limit of collected litter was 1 mm, thus including large microplastics. Plastic fragments (49-74 %) and plastic pellets (15 %-37 %) were predominant litter categories. The proportion of fragments is significantly higher during the tourist season with a more intensive cleaning regime (April-October), as opposed to the off-season (November-March). Fisheries and aquaculture litter was identified as a relevant source of pollution. More research is needed in the future into the microplastics smaller than 1 mm.

Keywords: Fragments; Ilovik; Large microplastics; Northeast Adriatic; Plastic pellets; Plastic pollution.