Marine Pollution Bulletin 163 (2021) 111956
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Marine Pollution Bulletin
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/marpolbul
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
ARTICLE INFO
Keywords:
Microplastics
Cox’s Bazar beach
Abundance
Contamination
Bangladesh
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to provide the first description of the presence, quantity, and
diversity of microplastics (MPs) in intertidal sediments from the world’s longest
natural beach, Cox’s Bazar. MPs were extracted from 24 surficial sediment
samples through the density separation method, and identification was carried out https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111956
using a stereomi croscope. Results showed that the abundance of MPs varied
from 200 to 378.8 items kg− 1 with the mean abundance of 368.68 ± 10.65 items
kg− 1. Fibers were the dominant (53%) MPs in this study, followed by films (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).
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.
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
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mbhnstu@gmail.com (M.B. Hossain).
1
Co-first author.
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
 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
Fig. 1. Map of Cox’s Bazar district showing the sampling sites along the beach. our knowledge, only two studies have been conducted in Bangladesh
Marine Pollution Bulletin 163 (2021) 111956
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 Koppen-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
meso-plastics such as plastic bags, plastic bottles, wrappers, corks, beaches with gentle slope indicate that it has been formed by faulting
rubber shoes, synthetic fibers are also found in beaches which are and down wrapping. The slope of Cox’s Bazar to Teknaf beach differs
degraded into small-size particles due to wave action and UV radiation from 2◦ to 9◦ angle, and the surf zone diverges from 70 m to 215 m
from sunlight (Cole et al., 2011; Corcoran et al., 2015). The docking of (Ahsan and Rashid, 2016).
large cruise vessels during peak tourist seasons also aggravates the Beach sediments were collected from eight stations (S1 to S8) in
existing load. pre tourist season (August to October) in 2019 (Fig. 1) during the
Plastic enters the oceans by some direct or indirect sources such lowest low tide. A metal quadrate (30 cm × 30 cm × 5 cm) was
as sewage systems, riverine output, incorrect disposal, atmospheric pressed into the surface sand layer to collect sand (Li et al., 2018: de
outfall, stormwater activity, loss during maritime activity, environmental Carvalho and Neto, 2016), and collected sand was subsequently
breakdown of larger plastic products, etc. (Cole et al., 2011; Sadri and transferred into an aluminum foil bag. A total of 24 samples were
Thompson, 2014). Microplastics in the Bay of Bengal are likely to have collected from eight stations, each having triplicates.
entered through sediments or water column from direct and indirect The laboratory procedure of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
sources. These particles can pass through filtration systems of waste Administration (NOAA, 2015) was followed in this study with some
water or sewage treatment plants and be transported to the sea by modifications. First, 400 g of wet sand samples were dried at 90 ◦C into
rivers discharges (Browne et al., 2010; Thompson, 2006). The three
main rivers in Bangladesh (Padma, Meghna, and Jamuna) could
 2
M.B. Hossain et al. 400 (
e
0
c

n S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 Sampling stations
a

d
Results of ANOVA and Tukey’s pairwise tests for
n differences on the abundances between stations.
Table 2
u

b
Bold types indicate significant variation. Analyses
Marine Pollution Bulletin 163 (2021) 111956 A
performed on log transformed data.
350
Variations SS df MS F p
300
Between stations 0.1471 7 0.0210 49.02 0.0000 Within
250 stations 0.0069 16 0.0004
)

1
-
200
Between stations Q p
g

k
150
S1, S2 11.77 0.000 S1, S3 2.18 0.777 S1, S4 6.07 0.010
100
m S1, S5 8.15 0.000 S1, S6 16.47 0.000
50
e

Fig. 2. Abundance (items kg −1

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

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

4
M.B. Hossain et al.
 m Paticles m

f
Pellets f

100% 30% o

o
Foams
90% o
it
o
Flims a

80% i

t R
s

e 20% Fibre 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40%

a
p
Fragments 30% 20% 10% 0%
70% R e

Marine Pollution Bulletin 163 (2021)

y g

10%
1- 5 mm
t

111956
n

a
c

i
0% r
0.5- 1 mm
60% S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 e
t
<0.5 mm
s Sampling stations z

i
a
s
l

50% c

p it
s
o
a
r
lp 12345678
o
c

40%
r
Sampling stations
i
Microbeads Sheets c

Bazar.

which may have been produced from the degradation of larger plastics
Fig. 4. Ratio of microplastic types found in the beach sediment of Cox’s Bazar.
Fig. 6. Ratio of microplastic size range found in the beach sediment of Cox’s
60% Pink sinking rate of plastics (Critchell
Purple and Lambrechts, 2016; Karthik et
s
50%
products. Microbeads from personal al., 2018).
r

o
40%
l
care products (Fendall and Sewell, In this study, the observed MPs
o
30%
c
2009) were also irregular shaped. were classified into three size
20%
c

it
Predominance of filamentous- and ranges. The majority of the MPs
s

a
10% irregular-shaped MPs was reported (59%) measured were 1–5 mm in
lp
o 0% in fish from the Bay of Bengal and size, followed by 0.5–1 mm (27%)
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 Sampling stations the English Channel (Hossain et al., and <0.5 mm (14%). Station-wise
r

2019; Lusher et al., 2013), which is distribution of MPs within size

i

m Orange
similar to the present findings. categories is shown in Fig. 6. This
f
Gray
o
These diversifications of MPs result is in accordance with the
Black
n
shapes might be forced by some findings published by Sagawa et al.
Yellow
(2018), Zhang et al. (2016), and
o

it other factors such as waste

a
White Laglbauer et al. (2014). However,
R sources, quality of debris,
100% Brown this pattern was different from
degradation of macroplastics by
90% Blue wave action and UV-B radiation,
80% Transparent Red suspension mechanism of plastics
70% Green on beaches, wind drift, and the
Fig. 5. Ratio of microplastic colors found in the beach sediment of Cox’s Bazar. 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
(Claessens et al., 2011; Laglbauer et al., 2014; Nor and Obbard, 2014;
fast degradation of large plastic debris due to wave action and UV ra
Nel and Froneman, 2015). Fibers may be introduced to the beach sedi
diation from sunlight. Additionally, macro- and meso-fibers (>5 mm)
ment from fishing nets, gears, textile products, washing machine efflu
may be accredited to the beach sediment from river discharges,
ents via wastewater, river discharges, and surface runoff (Browne et al.,
washing machine effluents, waste-water effluents, and different
2011; Hernandez et al., 2017; Murphy et al., 2016). Tourist activity in
fiber-producing developmental and touristic activities which finally get
Cox’s Bazar beaches and use of swimsuits and UV light-protecting
degraded into micro-fibers.
clothes made of synthetic fibers might have caused the higher percent
This study provided the first quantification and characteristics of
age of fibers in the study area.
MPs in the sediments of the world’s longest sea beach and revealed a
Recorded MPs were mostly colored (57%) whereas the rest (43%)
were transparent. MPs colors from beach sediment samples, in order of moderate abundance (368.68 ± 10.65 items kg− 1) of MPs compared to
abundance, were purple (18%), pink (14%), red (7%), blue (6%), green those found in other sandy beaches from around the world. Identified
(5%), brown (2%), white (<2%), black (1%), gray (<1%), orange (<1%), MPs are mostly colored (57%), suggesting a land-based origin. Colored
MPs are considered hazardous as they resemble prey to marine organ
and yellow (<1%) (Fig. 5). Peng et al. (2017) observed 58% colored
isms. Tourism, urban drainage, and fishing activities could be the major
and 42% transparent particles in Changjiang Estuary, China, which
sources of MPs in the study area. This study delivers novel insight into
supported the present findings. The demonstration of our study differs
beach MPs pollution of the Bangladesh coast and can be used as
from the results of Hossain et al. (2019) who found transparent MPs to
baseline data for management of this beach. However, further
be the dominant group followed by black, red, green, and blue in three
comprehensive research is recommended to assess the impacts of
marine fishes from Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. Color may vary due to
MPs exposure on aquatic biota.
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 CRediT authorship contribution statement
originate from syn thetic and organic substances, which require
advanced detailed investigations. MBH - conceptualization, study design, fund acquisition, writing and
The shapes of observed MPs were categorized into 7 distinct groups editing; PB - data collection, analysis and writing; AUN - data analysis;
which followed the descending order of filamentous (53%) > irregular TR- sample analyses.
(41%) > cylindrical (2%) > rectangular (2%) > elongated (<2%) >
pentagonal (<1%) > round (<1%). All the fibers were filamentous Declaration of competing interest
shaped and mainly originated from fishing nets and laundry effluents.
Further, most of the fragments were irregular in shape with sharp edges
We declare that there is no conflict of interest.
 5
M.B. Hossain et al.
Day, R.H., 1990. The quantitative distribution and characteristics of neuston plastic in
Acknowledgments the North Pacific Ocean, 1985–1988. In: Proceedings of the Second International
Conference on Marine Debris, pp. 247–266.
de Carvalho, D.G., Neto, J.A.B., 2016. Microplastic pollution of the beaches of
Partial financial assistance by Research Cell, Noakhali Science and Guanabara Bay. Southeast Brazil. Ocean Coast. Manage 128, 10–17.
Technology University, to first author is acknowledged. Comments from Dean, B.Y., Corcoran, P.L., Helm, P.A., 2018. Factors influencing microplastic
the editor and two anonymous reviewers have contributed to the abundances in nearshore, tributary and beach sediments along the Ontario
shoreline of Lake Erie. J. Great Lakes Res.
improvement of the quality of the manuscripts.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2018.07.014.
Devriese, L.I., Van Der Meulen, M.D., Maes, T., Bekaert, K., Paul-Pont, I., Frere, L.,
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