Marine Pollution Bulletin 163 (2021) 111956

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Marine Pollution Bulletin

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Baseline

Abundance and characteristics of microplastics in sediments from the

world’s longest natural beach, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
M. Belal Hossain a, *, 1, Partho Banik a, 1, As-Ad Ujjaman Nur a, Turabur Rahman b
a
Department of Fisheries and Marine Science, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Sonapur 3814, Bangladesh
b
Department of Fisheries Management, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This study aimed to provide the first description of the presence, quantity, and diversity of microplastics (MPs) in
Microplastics intertidal sediments from the world’s longest natural beach, Cox’s Bazar. MPs were extracted from 24 surficial
Cox’s Bazar beach sediment samples through the density separation method, and identification was carried out using a stereomi­
Abundance
croscope. Results showed that the abundance of MPs varied from 200 to 378.8 items kg− 1 with the mean
Contamination
abundance of 368.68 ± 10.65 items kg− 1. Fibers were the dominant (53%) MPs in this study, followed by films
Bangladesh
(20%) and fragments (12%). The dominant plastic particle color was purple (18%), followed by pink (14%) and
red (7%), with shapes that were mainly filamentous (53%) and irregular (41%). The majority (59%) of the MPs
measured were 1–5 mm in size, followed by 0.5–1 mm (27%) and <0.5 mm (14%).

Microplastics (MPs), less than 5 mm in size, accumulated in marine
environments have now become a global concern with possible delete­
rious impacts on ecosystems, food security, and human health (Crew
et al., 2020). For their durability, low expense, light weight, and impact
resistance properties, they have been extensively used in the plastic
industries as pellets, pharmaceuticals, personal care, and cleaning
products (Barnes et al., 2009). It is estimated that almost 360 million
tons of plastic products were produced all over the world in 2018, from
which 2–5% ended up into the world oceans (Jambeck et al., 2015;
PEMRG, 2019). Nevertheless, wherever they have been used, the ulti­
mate destination of most of these plastic products is marine environ­
ments (Barnes et al., 2009; Thompson et al., 2009). Generally, large
plastic items are degraded into small microscopic elements (<5 mm) due
to mechanical abrasion caused by wave action, photochemical oxidation
generated by UV-B radiations, and biological processes (Cole et al.,
2011; Corcoran et al., 2015).
The widespread distribution of microplastics (MPs) has already been
detected in the beaches (Kunz et al., 2016; Lots et al., 2017), seashore
(Turra et al., 2014), open ocean (Cozar et al., 2014), deep-sea sediment
(Van Cauwenberghe et al., 2013), estuary (Browne et al., 2010), remote
islands (Ivar do Sul et al., 2009), and mudflats (Lo et al., 2018) from
different parts of the world. These MPs mainly originated from either
land-based sources (personal care products and cosmetics, washing of
synthetic clothes, tourism, and developmental and industrial activity) or
sea-based sources (transportation, fishing, and shipping) (Browne et al.,
2010; Browne et al., 2011; Rillig, 2012). Through experiments, it has
been determined that MPs release toxic pollutants such as poly bromi­
nated di-phenyl ether (PBDE), nonylphenol, bisphenol A, and phthalates
which can cause cancer and reproductive abnormities in humans, ro­
dents, and invertebrates (Garrigos et al., 2004; Marcilla et al., 2004; vom
Saal and Hughes, 2005). They also adsorb different kinds of hydropho­
bic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichloro
diphenyl trichloro ethane (DDT), and dichloro diphenyl dichloro
ethylene (DDE) (Laist, 1997; Teuten et al., 2009). These hazardous
substances can also accumulate into different trophic levels such as
zooplankton (Botterell et al., 2019; Cole et al., 2014; Frias et al., 2014),
mussels (Browne et al., 2008; von Moos et al., 2012; Wegner et al.,
2012), worms (Browne et al., 2013), crustaceans (Devriese et al., 2015),
corals (Hall et al., 2015), fishes (Hossain et al., 2019; Ory et al., 2018),
and seabirds (Amelineau et al., 2016; Zhao et al., 2016).
The potential sources of plastic debris in a shoreline region are river
discharges, tourist activity, industrial effluents, roadside dust (vehicles
tires, grease, etc.), sewage disposals (effluents), and adjacent hotels,
motels, and restaurants (Browne et al., 2011). Tourism in beaches is
associated with water sports, scuba diving, and snorkeling such as
kayaking and motor-gliders. Moreover, different kinds of macro- or

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mbhnstu@gmail.com (M.B. Hossain).
1
Co-first author.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111956
Received 25 June 2020; Received in revised form 3 December 2020; Accepted 17 December 2020
Available online 29 December 2020
0025-326X/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M.B. Hossain et al.
Fig. 1. Map of Cox’s Bazar district showing the sampling sites along the beach.
meso-plastics such as plastic bags, plastic bottles, wrappers, corks,
rubber shoes, synthetic fibers are also found in beaches which are
degraded into small-size particles due to wave action and UV radiation
from sunlight (Cole et al., 2011; Corcoran et al., 2015). The docking of
large cruise vessels during peak tourist seasons also aggravates the
existing load.
Plastic enters the oceans by some direct or indirect sources such as
sewage systems, riverine output, incorrect disposal, atmospheric outfall,
stormwater activity, loss during maritime activity, environmental
breakdown of larger plastic products, etc. (Cole et al., 2011; Sadri and
Thompson, 2014). Microplastics in the Bay of Bengal are likely to have
entered through sediments or water column from direct and indirect
sources. These particles can pass through filtration systems of waste­
water or sewage treatment plants and be transported to the sea by rivers
discharges (Browne et al., 2010; Thompson, 2006). The three main
rivers in Bangladesh (Padma, Meghna, and Jamuna) could possibly
enable that transport, although currents could also transport micro­
plastics from other parts of the Bay of Bengal into the coastline and
beaches. Lost fishing gears including monofilament line with nylon
netting are typically neutrally buoyant. Therefore, they can drift at
different depths into the oceans and create problems due to their
intrinsic capacity to entangle marine dwellers (OSPAR, 2009). It is ex­
pected that wind-driven ocean circulation could have an effect on
microplastics accumulation at beaches with higher concentrations re­
ported in sheltered areas than exposed ones (Vianello et al., 2013).
Cox’s Bazar beach, the world’s longest natural sandy beach (125 km)
along the Bay of Bengal coast, Bangladesh, is a place of amazing natural
beauty with tertiary hills, dunes, and the open sea. For this attractive
beach, the city is known as the tourist capital of Bangladesh. Besides,
because of its importance for biodiversity and mineral resources, it has
recently been recognized as an expanding tourists’ hub for international
tourists. About two million tourists from the country and abroad come to
visit this beach in the peak tourist season (November–March). However,
beachside hotels, restaurants, and tourist activity produce a large
amount of plastic wastes which are often disposed into the beach.
Though MPs assessment is essential to understand the potential envi­
ronmental as well as health risk to human and organisms therein
(Savoca et al., 2019), no scientific research regarding MPs pollution has
been conducted in this area or even in Bangladesh so far. To the best of
2
Marine Pollution Bulletin 163 (2021) 111956
our knowledge, only two studies have been conducted in Bangladesh on
the MPs found in fishes (Hossain et al., 2019) and shrimps (Hossain
et al., 2020) but none on beach sediment. Therefore, this study was the
first step toward elucidating the occurrence and distribution of MP
particles in beach sediments from Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
Cox’s Bazar (21.4272◦ N, 92.0058◦ E) is a coastal city on the east
coast of Bangladesh. It has a long (approximately 125 km) unbroken
natural sandy beach along the Bay of Bengal. The straight coastline from
Cox’s Bazar to Teknaf lies three meters above the mean sea level. The
annual average temperature and rainfall are 25.6 ◦ C and 3770 mm,
respectively. The mean UV index is maximum 12 (April to September)
and minimum 7 (December and January) (BMD, 2016). According to the
Köppen-Geiger system, such a climate is classified as Am (tropical
climate). The current pattern of Bay of Bengal is clockwise in January to
July and counterclockwise in August to December, with an average wind
speed of 8.3 miles/h. Tidal pattern is semi diurnal with two high tides
and two low tides in a day. This sandy beach with dunes is an accu­
mulation of varied types of sediments. The beach plain sediments of
Cox’s Bazar are mostly coarsely skewed while the floodplains are finely
skewed (Alam et al., 1999). Dunes and beach are located side by side in
most parts of the beach plain. But these two units are detached irregu­
larly by tidal creeks which are composed of sands. These tidal creeks are
narrow, having occasionally extensive channels with different depths
and widths extending from 1 to 1.5 m and 50 to 100 m, respectively,
where tidal intrusion depends on the elevation of the creek bottom and
incoming tidal level (Alam et al., 1999). The sandy beaches with gentle
slope indicate that it has been formed by faulting and down wrapping.
The slope of Cox’s Bazar to Teknaf beach differs from 2◦ to 9◦ angle, and
the surf zone diverges from 70 m to 215 m (Ahsan and Rashid, 2016).
Beach sediments were collected from eight stations (S1 to S8) in pre-
tourist season (August to October) in 2019 (Fig. 1) during the lowest low
tide. A metal quadrate (30 cm × 30 cm × 5 cm) was pressed into the
surface sand layer to collect sand (Li et al., 2018: de Carvalho and Neto,
2016), and collected sand was subsequently transferred into an
aluminum foil bag. A total of 24 samples were collected from eight
stations, each having triplicates.
The laboratory procedure of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA, 2015) was followed in this study with some
modifications. First, 400 g of wet sand samples were dried at 90 ◦ C into
M.B. Hossain et al. Marine Pollution Bulletin 163 (2021) 111956

Table 2
400
Results of ANOVA and Tukey’s pairwise tests for differences on the abundances
350 between stations.
Abundance (item kg-1)

300 Bold types indicate significant variation. Analyses performed on log transformed
data.
250
Variations SS df MS F p
200
Between stations 0.1471 7 0.0210 49.02 0.0000
150 Within stations 0.0069 16 0.0004
100
50 Between stations Q p

0 S1, S2 11.77 0.000

S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S1, S3 2.18 0.777
S1, S4 6.07 0.010
Sampling stations
S1, S5 8.15 0.000
S1, S6 16.47 0.000
1 S1, S7 20.62 0.000
Fig. 2. Abundance (items kg− of d.w. samples) of microplastics in
S1, S8 6.21 0.008
different stations. S2, S3 9.60 0.000
S2, S4 5.71 0.017
an oven until the sample dryness. Then, the dried samples were put in an S2, S5 3.63 0.237
S2, S6 4.69 0.065
800 ml glass beaker with 300 ml of ZnCl2 (1.5 g cm− 3) salt solution
S2, S7 8.85 0.000
(Coppock et al., 2017) and continuously stirred for several minutes with S2, S8 5.56 0.008
a spatula. Then, all the floating solids were sieved with a 0.3 mm sieve, S3, S4 3.89 0.177
moved into a 500 ml beaker, and made to a solution with the addition of S3, S5 5.97 0.011
20 ml each of 30% H2O2 and FeSO4 (0.05 M). After heating at 75 ◦ C S3, S6 14.29 0.000
S3, S7 18.44 0.000
temperature for 30 min, 6 g of salt (NaCl) was added to every 20 ml of S3, S8 4.04 0.148
sample to increase the density of the aqueous solution (~5 M NaCl), and S4, S5 2.08 0.811
the WPO (wet peroxide oxidation) solution was transferred to a density S4, S6 10.4 0.000
separator (Coppock et al., 2017) and allowed to settle overnight. The S4, S7 14.56 0.000
S4, S8 0.148 1
solution from density separator was filtered through a cellulose nitrite
S5, S6 8.32 0.000
filter paper of 5.0 μm and 47 mm diameter (Prata et al., 2019). The filter S5, S7 12.47 0.000
papers were then taken under a light stereomicroscope with 8× to 35× S5, S8 1.93 0.859
magnification (Leica EZ4E, Germany) for the quantification and iden­ S6, S7 4.15 0.129
tification of MPs (Hidalgo-Ruz et al., 2012). The images of MPs and S6, S8 10.25 0.000
S7, S8 14.41 0.000
measurements were taken using a high-resolution camera (DP-software)
attached with a microscope and using ImageJ software (ver. 2.0.0)
(Laglbauer et al., 2014). The identification characteristics described and Levene’s test. When necessary, the data were transformed using square
illustrated in Cheung et al. (2016), Hidalgo-Ruz et al. (2012), and Cat­ root or logarithm, and in the case of heteroscedasticity, even after
arino et al. (2018) were followed to sort out plastic particles and to transformations, the hypotheses were rejected at levels lower than the p-
differentiate from those that are naturally occurring. The MP particles values of Levene’s test. During post-hoc comparisons, Bonferroni
were categorized into three size classes according to their lengths: method was followed for correcting the significant levels. Statistical
0.3–0.5 mm, 0.5–1 mm, and 1–5 mm (Zhang et al., 2016). Different analyses were performed using the freely available computer package,
colors of MP particles were also recorded following the report of the PAST (PAleontological STatistics), Version 4.03. ArcGIS (version 10.3)
quantitative distribution and characteristics of neuston plastic in the was used for mapping the sampling stations.
North Pacific Ocean (Day, 1990). The types of MPs were categorized into Prevalence of MPs was documented in every triplicate sample of
fiber, fragments, films, sheets, microbeads, particles, and foams (Frias Cox’s Bazar beach sediment and normalized to number of particles per
and Nash, 2019). kg of dry sediment using the mass of the dried sediment sample (items
The abundance of MPs in sediment sample for each station was kg− 1). This study elucidated that the abundance of MPs in different
calculated by dividing the number of separated microplastic particles by stations followed the decreasing order of S1 > S3 > S4 > S8 > S5 > S2 >
the dry weight (kg) of the sediment sample. Then, the means (items kg− 1 S6 > S7. The number of MPs ranged from 200 to 378.8 items kg− 1 beach
of d.w. samples) and standard deviations of the microplastic particles in sediment, where the maximum mean abundance (368.68 ± 10.65 items
the beach sediments were calculated. Variations in the abundance of kg− 1) was recorded at S1 and minimum (209.1 ± 9.09 items kg− 1) at S7
microplastics among the sites were analyzed using one-way Analysis of (Fig. 2). One-way ANOVA showed that the abundance of MPs signifi­
Variance (ANOVA) followed by pairwise comparisons using Tukey’s cantly differed (F = 49.02, df = 7, p<0.001) among the eight stations
HSD test. Before the analyses, homogeneity of variances was tested with (Table 2). Tukey’s pairwise comparisons showed significant differences

Table 1
Comparison of maximum abundance (item kg− 1) of beach sediment from Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, with other relevant studies.
Country Location Sample Maximum abundance Type Reference

Bangladesh Cox’s Bazar Beach sediment 378.8 Fibers (53%) Present study
India Tamil Nadu Beach sediment 309 Fibers (70.5%) Sathish et al., 2019
Japan Hiroshima Bay Beach sediment 1245 – Sagawa et al., 2018
Canada Lake Erie Beach sediment 146 Fibers (63%) Dean et al., 2018
China Changjiang Estuary Estuarine sediment 340 Fibers (93%) Peng et al., 2017
Japan Tokyo Bay Bottom sediment 5385 Fragments (75%) Matsuguma et al., 2017
Italy Lagoon of Venice Bottom sediment 2175 Fragments (87%) Vianello et al., 2013
Belgium Belgian coast Beach sediment 390 Fibers (59%) Claessens et al., 2011

3
M.B. Hossain et al.
Fig. 3. Microscopic images of selected microplastics: A & B - fibers, C - fragment, D - particles, E - microbeads, F - foams, G - films, H - sheets.
between almost all pair groups (Table 2), except for S1 and S3 (p=0.77),
S2 and S5 (p=0.24), S2 and S6 (p=0.06), S3 and S4 (p=0.18), S3 and S8
(p=0.15), S4 and S5 (p=0.81), S4 and S8 (p=1). Our findings suggest
that the highest abundance in S1 station, popularly known as Jhautola
sea beach, may be attributed to the Bakkhali river as well as over­
tourism. The maximum abundance of MPs in the beach sediment of
Cox’s Bazar was compared with the results reported worldwide (Table 1)
and found to be higher than the values reported in the beach sediment of
Tamil Nadu, India (Sathish et al., 2019), and Lake Erie, Canada (Dean
et al., 2018). The maximum abundances in Hiroshima Bay and Tokyo
Bay, Japan, and Lagoon of Venice, Italy, were found to be greater as
documented by Sagawa et al. (2018), Matsuguma et al. (2017), and
Vianello et al. (2013), respectively, than the present measured
maximum abundance. The variation in the distribution of MPs in
different stations along the studied beach may be attributed to a number
4
Marine Pollution Bulletin 163 (2021) 111956
of factors such as tidal current, wave energy, beach orientation, river
discharges, and human activity like tourist activity, beachside hotels,
and restaurants (Browne et al., 2011).
Eight different types of MPs were observed in the sample of Cox’s
Bazar (Fig. 3). Fibers were the predominant MPs covering 53% of total
MPs found, followed by films (20%), fragments (12%), microbeads
(9%), sheets (3%), foams (2%), pellets (2%), and particles (<1%). The
maximum (63%) number of fibers was found in the sample from S2,
whereas the minimum (43%) was found in the sample from S7 (Fig. 4).
When compared with other studies, over 70% of MPs were found to be
fibrous in different parts of the world, showing a similar pattern to that
revealed above (Blašković et al., 2017; Peng et al., 2017; Sathish et al.,
2019; Strand and Tairova, 2016). High proportions of fibers were also
observed in sediments collected from Belgium, Singapore, Slovenia, and
South Africa with values of 59%, 72%, 75%, and 90%, respectively
M.B. Hossain et al. Marine Pollution Bulletin 163 (2021) 111956

100% 100%
90% 90%

Ratio of microplastic size range

Microbeads 80%
Ratio of microplastic types

80%
Sheets 70%
70%
Paticles 60%
60%
Pellets 50% 1- 5 mm
50%
Foams 40% 0.5- 1 mm
40% 30%
Flims <0.5 mm
30% Fibre 20%
20% Fragments 10%

10% 0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
0%
Sampling stations
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8
Sampling stations
Fig. 6. Ratio of microplastic size range found in the beach sediment of
Fig. 4. Ratio of microplastic types found in the beach sediment of Cox’s Bazar. Cox’s Bazar.

which may have been produced from the degradation of larger plastics
100% Orange
products. Microbeads from personal care products (Fendall and Sewell,
2009) were also irregular shaped. Predominance of filamentous- and
Ration of microplastic colors

90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7
Sampling stations
Fig. 5. Ratio of microplastic colors found in the beach sediment of Cox’s Bazar.
(Claessens et al., 2011; Laglbauer et al., 2014; Nor and Obbard, 2014;
Nel and Froneman, 2015). Fibers may be introduced to the beach sedi­
ment from fishing nets, gears, textile products, washing machine efflu­
ents via wastewater, river discharges, and surface runoff (Browne et al.,
2011; Hernandez et al., 2017; Murphy et al., 2016). Tourist activity in
Cox’s Bazar beaches and use of swimsuits and UV light-protecting
clothes made of synthetic fibers might have caused the higher percent­
age of fibers in the study area.
Recorded MPs were mostly colored (57%) whereas the rest (43%)
were transparent. MPs colors from beach sediment samples, in order of
abundance, were purple (18%), pink (14%), red (7%), blue (6%), green
(5%), brown (2%), white (<2%), black (1%), gray (<1%), orange
(<1%), and yellow (<1%) (Fig. 5). Peng et al. (2017) observed 58%
colored and 42% transparent particles in Changjiang Estuary, China,
which supported the present findings. The demonstration of our study
differs from the results of Hossain et al. (2019) who found transparent
MPs to be the dominant group followed by black, red, green, and blue in
three marine fishes from Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. Color may vary due
to their sources. Colored MPs are considered hazardous as they resemble
prey to marine organisms (Cozar et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2016). The
occurrence of colored MPs suggests that these may originate from syn­
thetic and organic substances, which require advanced detailed
investigations.
The shapes of observed MPs were categorized into 7 distinct groups
which followed the descending order of filamentous (53%) > irregular
(41%) > cylindrical (2%) > rectangular (2%) > elongated (<2%) >
pentagonal (<1%) > round (<1%). All the fibers were filamentous-
shaped and mainly originated from fishing nets and laundry effluents.
Further, most of the fragments were irregular in shape with sharp edges
Gray
irregular-shaped MPs was reported in fish from the Bay of Bengal and
Black
the English Channel (Hossain et al., 2019; Lusher et al., 2013), which is
Yellow
similar to the present findings. These diversifications of MPs shapes
White
might be forced by some other factors such as waste sources, quality of
Brown
debris, degradation of macroplastics by wave action and UV-B radiation,
Blue
suspension mechanism of plastics on beaches, wind drift, and the sinking
Transparent
rate of plastics (Critchell and Lambrechts, 2016; Karthik et al., 2018).
In this study, the observed MPs were classified into three size ranges.
Red
The majority of the MPs (59%) measured were 1–5 mm in size, followed
Green
by 0.5–1 mm (27%) and <0.5 mm (14%). Station-wise distribution of
Pink
MPs within size categories is shown in Fig. 6. This result is in accordance
Purple
S8
with the findings published by Sagawa et al. (2018), Zhang et al. (2016),
and Laglbauer et al. (2014). However, this pattern was different from
many other previous studies (Browne et al., 2010; Eriksen et al., 2013;
Klein et al., 2015) where microplastics less than 1 mm were predomi­
nantly found. Notably, MPs in 1–5 mm size range may be accredited to
fast degradation of large plastic debris due to wave action and UV ra­
diation from sunlight. Additionally, macro- and meso-fibers (>5 mm)
may be accredited to the beach sediment from river discharges, washing
machine effluents, waste-water effluents, and different fiber-producing
developmental and touristic activities which finally get degraded into
micro-fibers.
This study provided the first quantification and characteristics of
MPs in the sediments of the world’s longest sea beach and revealed a
moderate abundance (368.68 ± 10.65 items kg− 1) of MPs compared to
those found in other sandy beaches from around the world. Identified
MPs are mostly colored (57%), suggesting a land-based origin. Colored
MPs are considered hazardous as they resemble prey to marine organ­
isms. Tourism, urban drainage, and fishing activities could be the major
sources of MPs in the study area. This study delivers novel insight into
beach MPs pollution of the Bangladesh coast and can be used as baseline
data for management of this beach. However, further comprehensive
research is recommended to assess the impacts of MPs exposure on
aquatic biota.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
MBH - conceptualization, study design, fund acquisition, writing and
editing; PB - data collection, analysis and writing; AUN - data analysis;
TR- sample analyses.
Declaration of competing interest
We declare that there is no conflict of interest.

5
M.B. Hossain et al.
Acknowledgments
Partial financial assistance by Research Cell, Noakhali Science and
Technology University, to first author is acknowledged. Comments from
the editor and two anonymous reviewers have contributed to the
improvement of the quality of the manuscripts.
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