Marine litter pollution in a subantarctic beach of the Strait of Magellan, Punta Arenas, Chile

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 202; p. 116313
• Main Authors: Salinas, Carla Ximena, Palacios, Elaine, Pozo, Karla, Torres, Mariett, Rebolledo, Lorena, Gómez, Victoria, Rondón, Rodolfo, de la Maza, Ignacia, Galbán, Cristobal
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2024
• Subjects: Bathing Beaches - statistics & numerical data; Chile; Clean coast index; COVID-19; Environmental Monitoring; Marine debris; Plastic pollution; Plastics - analysis; Strait of the Magellan; Waste Products - analysis; Chile; Clean coast index; Strait of the Magellan; Chile; Marine debris; Plastic pollution
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116313

This study assessed the presence of marine litter along the beach of the city of Punta Arenas, Chile. The sampling period coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 239 plastic waste items were identified out of a total of 638 litter items. The Clean Coast Index reported within this study ranged from Clean (CCI 2-5) to Extremely dirty (CCI >20), especially near the port. The majority of litter items has been classified as originating from varied origins, as it is not possible to pinpoint a precise origin in most items. The results indicate that the predominant plastic litter in Punta Arenas is PVC. The results are discussed in relation to the sources and composition of the residues, the morpho dynamics of the coast, and the CCI is compared with other locations around the globe.
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•11 litter categories belonging to 38 typologies of the OSPAR classification.•CCI ranged between extremely dirty (>20) to clean (2–5) in the area of study.•Port activities and morpho dynamics seems to be related with litter concentration.•Plastics and glass dominated the litter collected with an average of 63.3 %.•Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and Polypropylene (PP) are the dominant plastics (58 %).