Regional Studies in Marine Science 46 (2021) 101902

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Regional Studies in Marine Science

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/rsma

Anthropogenic litter composition and distribution along a chemical

contamination gradient at Santos Estuarine System—Brazil
Victor Vasques Ribeiro a , Cyntia Ayumi Yokota Harayashiki a , Alperen Ertaş b ,
∗
Ítalo Braga Castro a ,
a
Instituto do Mar, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Santos, Brazil
b
Ege University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, 35100 Bornova, Izmir, Turkey

article info a b s t r a c t

Article history: Anthropogenic litter (AL) distribution was assessed on beaches presenting different levels of urban
Received 7 April 2021 occupation at Santos Estuarine System. Plastics and cigarette butts were the items most found at
Received in revised form 1 June 2021 sampling sites. Plastic items sub-categories, such as cotton buds, lids, microcentrifuge tubes, pellets,
Accepted 19 June 2021
and polystyrene foam, presented sources related to industrial, tourism and port activities, and sewage
Available online 21 June 2021
discharges. The contamination gradient already reported for hazardous chemical levels was also
Keywords: observed for AL. Litter categories related to local and allochthonous sources presented a gradient of
Plastic spatial distribution. Although touristic activities are an impactful and variable factor, the number of
Cigarette butts inhabitants was positively correlated with most AL categories. The semi-urban beach (S1) was classified
Contamination gradient as extremely dirty, and it was mostly covered by hazardous AL. The semi-remote (S2) and remote (S3)
Hazardous items beaches were classified as moderate and clean with some or few hazardous AL, respectively. Therefore,
Tourism urban and hydrodynamic gradients drive marine litter distribution on studied zone.
© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Inputs of AL in coastal regions are often attributed to tourism

Anthropogenic activities have historically introduced large
amounts of potentially harmful substances and materials in
coastal and marine environments (Cabral et al., 2019), whether
purposely or unintentionally (Duhec et al., 2015). Anthropogenic
litter (AL) is defined as all discarded or abandoned manufactured
solid materials (Hoellein et al., 2015; Cheshire et al., 2009). AL
can reach the coastal and marine environments, including remote
areas (Rangel-Buitrago et al., 2019). The threaten posed by AL
for both fauna and human wellbeing includes, among others, the
entangling and/or ingestion of these materials by marine and
terrestrial biota, the release of chemicals due to the degradation
of AL and the contact with sharp and sanitary waste on the
beach (Gall and Thompson, 2015; Gallo et al., 2018; Rangel-
Buitrago et al., 2019; Santana et al., 2016; Battisti et al., 2019;
Staffieri et al., 2019; Poeta et al., 2017a). In fact, glass, metal,
cigarette butts (CB), condoms and sharp items, such as ceramics
or wood with nails on it, can cause direct harm to fauna and/or
humans and, therefore, they have been classified as Hazardous
Anthropogenic Litter (HAL) by recent studies performed in Latin
America (Rangel-Buitrago et al., 2020, 2019).
∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ibcastro@unifesp.br (Í.B. Castro).
activities (Ghosh, 2011), amplified during vacation, festivities, and
summer (Ćorluka et al., 2016). However, some studies assess-
ing temporal distribution of AL reported higher densities during
other seasons (Mokos et al., 2020; Vincent and Hoellein, 2017)
or no quantitative differences among seasons (Ríos et al., 2018;
Terzi and Seyhan, 2017). Indeed, highly populated coastal ar-
eas, regardless tourist seasons, also present relevant indigenous
sources of waste and other contaminants to estuarine systems
and beaches (Ribeiro et al., 2021). Furthermore, coastal inputs of
all allochthonous AL through estuarine discharges, tides, currents,
and other oceanographic and meteorological events are widely
known (Defontaine et al., 2020; Zhao et al., 2020). In this regard,
the quantity and quality of AL deposited along estuarine gradients
can be used to identify sources and spatial distribution of such
residues (Krelling and Turra, 2019). In turn, this type of infor-
mation are useful tools seeking the adoption of public policies
aiming minimizing this serious environmental global issue (Lu
et al., 2018).
The Santos Estuarine System (SES) is located in the central
coast of São Paulo State (Brazil), housing a high population den-
sity at Santos (1494.2 inhabitants/km2 ) and Guarujá (2026.8
inhabitants/km2 ) cities (Ibge, 2020). SES is a classic example of
multi-stressed coastal zone where urban, port, industrial and
tourism activities are highly intense, contributing to releases of
hazardous substances and residues (Cortez et al., 2018). In this re-
gard, studies assessing the concentration of antifouling biocides,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2021.101902
2352-4855/© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
V.V. Ribeiro, C.A.Y. Harayashiki, A. Ertaş et al.
toxic metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlo-
rinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides and steroidal
estrogens have been reported in environmental samples from
SES (Abreu et al., 2020; Begliomini et al., 2017; Buruaem et al.,
2013; Gouveia et al., 2019; Kim et al., 2017; Oliveira et al., 2020;
Pusceddu et al., 2019). Overall, these studies have found higher
contaminant concentrations inside the estuary, which flows to-
wards Santos Bay influenced by mixed tides, cold fronts, and in-
tense rainfall regime and are diluted towards the ocean, forming
a contamination gradient.
The beaches from SES located at Guarujá City present dif-
ferent levels of urban occupation, providing an opportunity to
investigate possible relationships between AL occurrence and
population densities in an urban gradient. Moreover, inputs from
estuarine discharges can be elucidated by AL categorization con-
sidering, for instance, buoyancy properties and use categories
(Munari et al., 2016). Despite this, no studies so far have as-
sessed potential sources and the existence of AL gradients in
this estuary. Therefore, based on spatial distribution of chemical
contamination already demonstrated in SES, we hypothesized a
similar behavior for AL. Thus, the present study aimed to simulta-
neously investigate the occurrence of anthropogenic waste along
the contamination gradient as well as to identify potential sources
of AL.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study area and sampling
The SES houses a high population density at Santos (1494.2
inhabitants/km2 ) and Guarujá (2026.8 inhabitants/km2 ) cities
(Ibge, 2020). The present study was undertaken in three beaches
with different uses (based on beach activities) located at Guarujá
city (Fig. 1). S1 (Santa Cruz dos Navegantes Beach - 23◦ 59′ 45.3′′ S
46◦ 18′ 22.2′′ W) is a semi-urban beach with 750 m of extension
and approximately 5000 inhabitants, receiving daily public clean-
ness (Ribeiro and Santos, 2020) and tourists mostly during vaca-
tions, festivities and weekends (Ferreira and Lopes, 2013). This
beach is geographically sheltered from winds and waves, with
limited access by roads and boats, but it does not have an efficient
basic sanitation system and tourist infrastructure (Ferreira and
Lopes, 2013). S2 (Góes Beach - 23◦ 59′ 55.3′′ S 46◦ 18′ 51.8′′ W) is a
250 m long semi-remote beach with low hydrodynamics and ap-
proximately 300 inhabitants composed mostly by fisherman and
woman economically dependent on tourism activities (Quevedo
et al., 2011). The access to S2 is only possible by boats and poorly
preserved trails (Souza, 2015). S2 is east–west orientated, north-
facing and completely sheltered from the direct incidence of open
sea wave trains, but influenced only by diffraction, refraction,
and reflection waves from Santos Bay (Souza, 2015). S3 (Sangava
Beach - 24◦ 00′ 04.9′′ S 46◦ 19′ 12.4′′ W) is a remote and inhabited
beach, where diving and other tourism activities are held (Silva,
2011). The access to S3 is limited by boats and a long and
poorly preserved trail, which may be the most likely reason to
the restricted number of beachgoers in comparison to S1 and S2
(Silva, 2011).
AL sampling was performed accordingly to the European Com-
mission/OSPAR adapted methodology (Galgani et al., 2013). More
specifically, plastic pellets (1–5 mm of diameter or length) and all
AL > 3 cm were collected between December 2020 and January
2021 during a single sampling campaign held in each area. At
each site, three transects of 400 m2 (20 x 20 m) were equidis-
tantly distributed along the beach and sampled (Kaviarasan et al.,
2020), considering each transect as a replicate. All collected items
were separated into categories adopted by the United Nations En-
vironment Program in collaboration with the Intergovernmental
2
Regional Studies in Marine Science 46 (2021) 101902
Oceanographic Commission (Cheshire et al., 2009). These cate-
gories were plastic, polystyrene foam (XPS), metal, glass, paper,
and processed wood. Although Cheshire et al. (2019) and Gal-
gani et al. (2013) recommend including cigarette butts (CBs) as
paper/cardboard or plastic items, they were considered in a sep-
arated category due to their high occurrence, mixed composition,
and elevated environmental impact (Araújo and Costa, 2019). In
addition, litter that presented high incidence (>3% of all AL) were
separately categorized, as pellets, cotton swabs and plastic lids. In
this sense, those items with mixed composition or low occurrence
(<0.5% of all AL), such as food packaging, were categorized as
others. After separating all AL by category, the items were in-
dividually counted. The AL density was expressed by items/m2
(mean ± standard deviation). The Clean-Coast Index (CCI) was
calculated per site, using the following equation: CCI = (Σ litter
on transect/total area of transect) × K, where K is a constant equal
to 20 (Alkalay et al., 2007). Then, the results were categorized
by cleanliness according to the scale described by Alkalay et al.
(2007) (Table S1, supplementary material). Despite originally de-
sign only for plastic items, the CCI is currently used to assess
AL contamination (Ribeiro et al., 2021). In addition, Hazardous
Anthropogenic Litter Index (HALI) was calculated by the relation
between Hazardous Anthropogenic Litter (HALs) occurrence and
all collected items by a logarithmic (log10) scale (Rangel-Buitrago
et al., 2019). Herein, the following items were considered HALs:
CB, condoms, cotton swabs, glass, metal, MT, processed wood
with nails, and sharp ceramic. The HALI values were classified
according to five categories (Table S2, supplementary material).
2.2. Data analyses
The normality and homogeneity of data (AL categories and
number of residents) were verified using Shapiro–Wilk and Lev-
ene tests, respectively. Differences in AL amounts, among beaches,
were analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey multiple
comparisons. Alternatively, non-parametric statistics (Kruskal–
Wallis test followed by the Dunn’s analysis) were applied when
ANOVA assumptions were not achieved. Spearman non-
parametric correlation analysis was used to investigate the re-
lationships between AL categories and number of residents in
each sampled site. All statistical analyses were performed using
Statistica⃝R
(version 13.0 Statsoft) with a significant level of 0.05.
3. Results and discussion
The three sampling sites together (3600 m2 ) accounted for
a total of 4416 items (1.227 ± 1.49 items/m2 ). Overall, the AL
found was mostly comprised of plastics (65.5%), followed by CB
(23.7%), pellets (16.4%) and XPS (10.9%) (Table 1). According to
CCI results, the sites S1, S2 and S3 were classified as extremely
dirty (58.8 ± 24.2), moderate (9.9 ± 1.8) and clean (4.9 ± 0.9),
respectively (Table 1). The HALI values calculated for S1 (HALI
= 5.9), S2 (HALI = 1.14) and S3 (HALI = 0.62) categorized the
studied sites as type V, III and II, respectively (Table 1).
The semi-urban site (S1) represented 80% of all collected AL,
followed by semi-remote S2 (13%) and remote S3 (7%). In general,
S1 presented a higher AL quantity than both S2 (p < 0.05) and
S3 (p < 0.05) (Fig. 2a). Similarly, higher amounts of CB, cotton
swaps, metals, MT, pellets, plastic and XPS were found at S1 in
comparison to S2 (p < 0.05) and S3 (p < 0.05) (Fig. 2b, c, d, e, f,
h and j). No differences among sites (p > 0.05) were observed
for ceramics, cloth/textile, glass, plastic lids, paper/cardboard,
processed wood, and others (Fig. 2g, i, k, l, m, n and o).
The correlation results (Table S3, supplementary material)
showed that CB (r = 0.95), cotton swabs (r = 0.93), glass (r =
0.85), plastic lids (r = 0.90), metal (r = 0.79), paper/cardboard (r
V.V. Ribeiro, C.A.Y. Harayashiki, A. Ertaş et al. Regional Studies in Marine Science 46 (2021) 101902

Fig. 1. Sampling sites in the Guarujá beaches - Brazil). S1 = Santa Cruz dos Navegantes Beach, S2 = Góes Beach, S3 = Sangava Beach.

Fig. 2. Quantity (mean ± sd) of (a) total anthropogenic litter (AL) and (b–o) different AL categories sampled in beaches located in Guarujá beaches (Brazil) during
the summer of 2020 and 2021. Letters indicate significant difference among sites (p < 0.05).

3
V.V. Ribeiro, C.A.Y. Harayashiki, A. Ertaş et al. Regional Studies in Marine Science 46 (2021) 101902

Table 1
Anthropogenic litter (AL) density (items/m2 - mean ± SD) and percentage, and Hazardous Anthropogenic Litter Index (HALI) in
beaches located in the left margin of Santos Estuarine System (Guarujá City - Brazil). The italic and underlined lines indicate
sub-categories and their main categories, respectively.
Sampling site Navegantes (S1) Góes (S2) Sangava (S3) Total
Area (m2 ) 1200 1200 1200 3600
Items Items/m2 % Items/m2 % Items/m2 % %
Mixed polymers 0.916 ± 0.63 31.1 0.088 ± 0.01 17.9 0.050 ± 0.02 21.6 28.6
Polystyrene foam (XPS) 0.252 ± 0.09 8.5 0.073 ± 0.03 14.7 0.078 ± 0.02 34.2 10.9
Lids 0.095 ± 0.09 3.2 0.023 ± 0.01 4.6 0.008 ± 0.00 3.4 3.4
Pellets 0.542 ± 0.05 18.4 0.057 ± 0.02 11.5 0.006 ± 0.01 2.4 16.4
Condoma 0.001 ± 0.00 0.1 0.001 ± 0.00 0.2 0.000 ± 0.00 0.0 0.1
Cotton swabsa 0.113 ± 0.02 3.8 0.015 ± 0.01 3.0 0.003 ± 0.00 1.0 3.5
Microcentrifuge tubes (MT)a 0.075 ± 0.04 2.5 0.008 ± 0.00 0.1 0.009 ± 0.00 3.8 2.3
Plastic Total 1.993 ± 0.86 67.7 0.263 ± 0.04 53.5 0.154 ± 0.03 66.4 65.5
Cigarette buttsa 0.755 ± 0.32 25.6 0.078 ± 0.02 15.7 0.041 ± 0.01 16.4 23.7
Metala 0.074 ± 0.02 2.5 0.024 ± 0.01 4.9 0.019 ± 0.01 5.1 3.2
Glassa 0.023 ± 0.01 0.8 0.006 ± 0.00 1.2 0.003 ± 0.00 1.0 0.8
Sharp ceramic a 0.004 ± 0.00 0.1 0.027 ± 0.04 5.4 0.000 ± 0.00 0.0 0.8
Ceramic 0.008 ± 0.00 0.2 0.105 ± 0.11 21.3 0.000 ± 0.00 0.0 3.0
Cloth/textile 0.005 ± 0.00 0.2 0.002 ± 0.00 0.3 0.001 ± 0.00 0.3 0.2
Paper/cardboard 0.056 ± 0.06 1.9 0.008 ± 0.00 1.7 0.008 ± 0.09 3.1 1.9
Processed wood (with nails)a 0.003 ± 0.00 0.1 0.001 ± 0.00 0.2 0.003 ± 0.00 1.0 0.2
Processed wood Total 0.020 ± 0.02 0.7 0.006 ± 0.00 1.2 0.011 ± 0.01 4.4 1.0
Others 0.011 ± 0.01 0.4 0.007 ± 0.01 1.3 0.008 ± 0.00 3.1 0.7
Total 2.994 ± 1.21 100 0.493 ± 0.09 100 0.243 ± 0.04 100 100
CCI 58.9 ± 24.2 9.9 ± 1.8 4.9 ± 0.9
CCI Classific. Extremely dirty Moderate Clean
HALI 5.91 1.14 0.62
HALI type V III II
a
Categories used for HALI calculation.

= 0.74), pellets (r = 0.95), and plastic (r = 0.95) were positively
correlated with the number of residents in each sampling site (p
< 0.05). In contrast, no significant correlations (p > 0.05) were
seen among total AL, cloth/textile, ceramic, MT, processed wood,
XPS, and others.
Among all sampled sites together, plastics (65.5%) and CB
(23.7%) were the most frequent items. It is important to highlight
that, among plastic polymers, pellets and XPS accounted for 16.4%
and 10.9% of the total AL, respectively. In addition, plastic lids,
cotton swabs, condoms, and MT were present at lower frequen-
cies (<5%). The presence of plastic items amounts were similar
to those reported by several studies around the world at similar
beaches, in which have been found amounts ranging from 61% to
87% (Asensio-Montesinos et al., 2020; Corraini et al., 2018; Gjyli
et al., 2020; Munari et al., 2016; Nachite et al., 2019; Sarafraz
et al., 2016; Šilc et al., 2018; Terzi et al., 2020). Nevertheless, some
of those studies considered CB within the plastic category, which
is a misconception, since those residues are made of different
materials, including tobacco, paper, ashes, and cellulose acetate
filter (Araújo and Costa, 2019). In addition, the frequency of plas-
tic litter was similar to the one reported by Ribeiro et al. (2021)
on nearby Santos and São Vicente beaches in 2019 (67.45%).
Considering only S1, plastic was 67.7% of all AL, which is a slightly
smaller than values (72.2%) found by Ferreira and Lopes (2013) on
the same site in 2011. Andrades et al. (2020) found that plastic
was the most abundant material in 97.7% of 44 Brazilian beaches,
representing 69.5% of all AL. Higher plastic occurrence, reaching
95% or more, have been measured in remote, urban and tourist
coastal areas (Pieper et al., 2019; Poeta et al., 2016; Prevenios
et al., 2018; Wilson and Verlis, 2017).
The occurrence of plastic debris on beaches can have multiple
sources and is influenced by environmental factors such as coastal
currents, tides, river discharges, and winds (Cabral et al., 2019).
In addition, there are important human dimensions that need to
be considered such as tourist flows, proximity to urban centers,
cleaning services and local public policies into force (Ribeiro et al.,
4
2021). Therefore, an accurate identification of plastic sources is
a challenge to overcome. For instance, cotton swabs are floating
items commonly found on highly urbanized beaches with poor
sewage treatment (Poeta et al., 2016), which were also seen in the
studied area (Fontes et al., 2019; Roveri et al., 2020). Similarity,
plastic lids are also floating items that are connected mostly with
tourism activities and can reach up 9.4% of all AL when combined
in categories including plastic caps and cups (Simeonova and
Chuturkova, 2019; Vlachogianni et al., 2018). Ribeiro et al. (2021)
found MT accounting a maximum of 0.9% of total AL in 2019
at Santos and São Vicente beaches. This item is linked to both
tourism and poor domestic sewage treatment (Simeonova et al.,
2017).
Currently, it is well-known that CB compose between <1%
and 20% of all AL monitored beaches worldwide (Pieper et al.,
2019; Suciu et al., 2017). However, CB amounts reaching up to
53.2% of total AL have been reported in Italy (Munari et al., 2016),
Morocco (Maziane et al., 2018), Bulgarie (Simeonova et al., 2017),
Chile (Hidalgo-Ruz et al., 2018), Hawaii (Blickley et al., 2016) and
Argentina (Becherucci et al., 2017). According to Andrades et al.
(2020), this item represents 10.8% of all AL found on 44 Brazilian
beaches. CB has been pointed out with great ecotoxicological
potential for coastal ecosystems, especially due to the large load
of hazardous chemicals (e.g., toxic metals, PAH and nitrosamines)
that can be leached into the water column and sediments after in-
adequate disposal (Araújo and Costa, 2019). In this regard, a core
set of factors including oceanographic features, meteorological
parameters, beachgoers flow and efficiency of cleaning services
may influence the occurrence of CB on beaches (Araújo and Costa,
2019).
Pellets are used to manufacture plastic products and were the
third most found items (16.42%) in the present study. According
to Pozo et al. (2020), pellets are spilled to the environment
during production, packaging, and transportation, not being a
residue that reaches natural ecosystems from tourist or urban
sources. Due to the intense port and industrial activities, the
V.V. Ribeiro, C.A.Y. Harayashiki, A. Ertaş et al.
occurrence of pellets has been frequently reported in monitoring
studies carried out in the region. Indeed, there are some records
of pellets contamination in S1 and S2, where amounts of up
to 255 pellets/m2 were found (Izar et al., 2019; Ribeiro, 2020;
Ribeiro and Santos, 2020). Similarity, high pellets occurrence was
also seen at Santos Bay beaches (Taniguchi et al., 2016; Turra
et al., 2014). Overall, such studies demonstrated that sites close
to contamination sources presented higher pellet densities (Izar
et al., 2019; Moreira et al., 2016). The same pattern was observed
in the present study, with higher occurrence of pellets near to
Santos Port in S1, and smaller amounts in S2 and S3. In addi-
tion, pellets can act as vectors of several contaminants in the
marine environment and, therefore, pose as a threat to marine
biota (Gorman et al., 2019; Rodrigues et al., 2019). Thus, it is
important to include this item during environmental monitoring
of AL, especially in sites nearby potential contamination sources
(Pozo et al., 2020).
Polystyrene foam (XPS) is a widely used material recently
identified as likely source and sink of contaminants to marine
environments (Turner, 2021). It was the fourth most frequent
item in the present study (10.9% of total AL). In S1, XPS per-
centages were higher (8.5%) than previous report made in 2011
(0.03%) (Ferreira and Lopes, 2013). On the other hand, the XPS
frequencies were similar to the ones seen during 2019 (9.6%)
in the nearby Santos and São Vicente beaches, which are more
urbanized and visited beaches in comparison to the three sites
from the current study (Ribeiro et al., 2021). The sources of XPS
are difficult to be distinguished due to a wide usage in construc-
tion, fisheries, and packaging (Terzi et al., 2020). Since XPS is a
floating material, it is possible that it reaches the studied areas
through estuarine discharges in addition to inadequate disposal
by beachgoers (Poeta et al., 2017b).
Ceramic, cloth/textile, glass, metal, and paper/cardboard are
known to be materials that normally have a local origin because
they are not floating (Poeta et al., 2016; Topçu et al., 2013).
Considering all studied beaches, those items represented up to
3.2% of AL. However, they can reach up to 7% of AL on beaches
from Albania (Gjyli et al., 2020), Brazil (Ribeiro et al., 2021), and
Spain (Asensio-Montesinos et al., 2019). According to Poeta et al.
(2016), there are three different potential sources of AL: beach
usage, urban areas, and rivers influence. Thus, the beach usage
by tourists and/or locals is the most likely source of those not
floating items on the studied beaches.
Tides, rainfall regimes, and estuarine flushing are important
physical processes affecting the spatial distribution of contam-
inants along estuarine systems. In these zones, pollutants may
be transported in solution or adsorbed to suspended particles.
Highly hydrodynamics estuaries often export hazardous chemi-
cals and materials towards open ocean, inducing contamination
levels in sites far from coastal sources (Castro, 2019). However,
SES present low amplitude tides associated to high water resi-
dence times originating clear gradients already demonstrated by
several studies assessing chemical levels and biological effects of
the contamination (Begliomini et al., 2017; Gouveia et al., 2019;
Oliveira et al., 2020; Pusceddu et al., 2019). In the present study,
a gradient pattern was seen considering significant spatial differ-
ences in the amounts of total AL, total plastic, CB, pellets, XPS,
cotton swabs, metal, and MT. For such categories, higher amounts
and densities were observed in S1 with lower values in S2 and
S3. In this sense, a study based on integrated rainfall data and
Lagrangian particle tracking models predicted the accumulation
of pellets along the beaches of SES as observed in the present
study (Gorman et al., 2020). These findings indicate that pellet
inputs on the studied sites are originated in internal portion of
SES where port and industrial facilities are installed. On the other
hand, it is important to highlight that plastics (other than pellets),
5
Regional Studies in Marine Science 46 (2021) 101902
CB, XPS, cotton swabs, and MT might present similar sources,
although contributions from local disposal can also occur.
In addition to the chemical gradients, the studied sites also
form a clear urban gradient, with a higher number of inhabitants
and beachgoers flow at S1 and lower numbers at S2 and S3 due
to harder access to these areas. Therefore, the highest amounts
and densities of AL were recorded at the semi-urban site S1,
which also has the largest number of residents (5000 inhabitants).
Furthermore, relatively low litter quantities were seen in S2 (300
inhabitants) and S3 (uninhabited beach). In fact, the positive and
strong correlations observed between the number of residents
and CB, cotton swabs, glass, plastic lids, metal, paper/cardboard
and total plastic suggest that at least some of these materials are
locally sourced. In this regard, Leite et al. (2014) demonstrated
significant higher densities and diversity of AL in areas nearby
urban centers. Overall, our results corroborate with such findings
since a smaller amount of AL was collected in less populated
zones. Moreover, condoms and ceramic were absent categories
at the remote S3, reducing AL diversity in this site.
In the present study, the highest CCI values was reported at
S1 (58.9 ± 24.2 - extremely dirty). In this same site, Ferreira and
Lopes (2013) found a CCI of only 4.7 (clean) in 2011. This 10-
fold increase suggests a serious worsening of litter contamination
in the last decade at S1, which is a worldwide trend as pointed
out by Nelms et al. (2020) and Weideman et al. (2020). The
study conducted in 44 Brazilian beaches concluded that 29% of
the beaches were classified as clean, 25% moderate, 22.7% very
clean, and 11.3% extremely dirty and dirty (Andrades et al., 2020).
Additionally, in the nearby highly urbanized Santos and São Vi-
cente beaches, Ribeiro et al. (2021) reported a CCI of 24.5 in
2019. Therefore, results from the present study showed that S1
is dirtier than most Brazilian beaches, including beaches from
more urbanized areas such as Santos and São Vicente. Considering
that S1 is less frequented than Santos and São Vicente beaches,
the higher CCI found reinforces the hypothesis of contributions
from estuarine discharges as pointed out by Gorman et al. (2020)
based on pellet inputs. As seen for AL amounts and densities,
CCI values were progressively lower in S2 (9.9 ± 1.8 - moderate)
and S3 (4.9 ± 0.9 - clean), corroborating to gradient distribution.
According to Vlachogianni et al. (2018), several beaches located
in Adriatic and Ionian Seas presented moderate CCI values de-
spite different categorization as semi-urban, urban, and remote
beaches. On the other hand, this was not the pattern seen by
the present study (extremely dirty, moderate, and clean) where
urban and hydrodynamic gradients drove AL distribution. Thus,
although the studied sites pose as an option for tourists that
search for calm and clean beaches, the semi-urban beach (S1)
does not present these attractive characteristics. Moreover, in the
case of S2 and S3, the harder access and less inhabited status
might be unappealing and confirm less tourist’s visitation, which
may confirm the lower AL abundance.
The items categorized as HALs (i.e., CB, condoms, cotton swabs,
glass, metal, MT, processed wood with nails, and sharp ceramic)
in the present study were the same used by Ribeiro et al. (2021).
The HALI values found on studied beaches also followed the
contamination gradient (S1 > S2 > S3) already detected for haz-
ardous chemicals (Gouveia et al., 2019). In S1, the HALI was type
V (5.91), meaning that the beach is mostly covered with HALs.
This HALI type was also seen in the remote Isla Arena (19.90) in
Colombia (Rangel-Buitrago et al., 2020) and urban Playa Blanca
(9.40) in Chile (Maleki and Soria, 2020). Therefore, although S1
is not an urban nor remote beach, it may induce potential health
risks for their beachgoers. The lower HALI values observed in S2
and S3 suggest progressively lower risks in these less frequented
beaches. In Latin America, most HALI types reported for urban
and visited sites were between II and III (Rangel-Buitrago et al.,
V.V. Ribeiro, C.A.Y. Harayashiki, A. Ertaş et al.
2020; Ribeiro et al., 2021), meaning that a considerable amount of
HALs are found on these sites. The majority items that composed
HALs in the present study were CB, followed by cotton swabs
and MT commonly used to market illicit drugs like cocaine. In
this sense, both total AL and HAL contamination can affect the
tourism activities and the coastal population economy, mostly
on S1. Based on these data, the environmental heath around S1
is probably the most impacted beach in SES, since Ribeiro et al.
(2021) reported maximum HALI values reaching 4.04 at nearby
Santos and São Vicente beaches. Thus, measures to mitigate AL
and HALs contamination at this region, such as public cleaning,
environmental education activities and others, must be planned
and implemented on studied beaches, mostly in S1.
Beach clean-ups are held daily in S1 and three times a week in
S2 by Guarujá city hall (Ribeiro and Santos, 2020). In S3 there is
no public beach clean-ups, although some voluntary initiatives by
non-governmental organizations eventually take place. Despite
this, the beaches classified under higher CCI values and mostly
covered by HALs were also those under frequent cleaning efforts.
Thus, is expected that AL densities reported in S1 and S2 are un-
derestimated. In this case, the influence of urban occupation and
hydrodynamic gradients on AL distribution would be even more
evident. These findings denote that AL contamination on Guarujá
beaches need simultaneously consider estuarine discharges, ur-
ban density, and tourism activities as relevant sources. Therefore,
the adoption of public policies aiming to reduce AL disposal,
in addition to educative strategies involving residents and users
of affected areas, may be efficient to address this socioenviron-
mental issue. For this purpose, Battisti et al. (2020) suggested
clean-up projects structured in different steps seeking to obtain
ecological outcomes associated to positive feedbacks from the
volunteers. This approach has been described as a useful tool to
develop people affinity to coastal environments and hence reduce
AL inputs (Hartley et al., 2018).
4. Conclusions
Plastic and CBs were the dominant AL items on studied
beaches. An association between autochthonous (residents and
tourism activities) and allochthonous sources (port, industries,
and sewage discharge) lead to AL accumulation along the studied
beaches. The gradient distribution already established for haz-
ardous chemicals in the region was seen for most AL categories,
CCI and hazardous items. Most AL categories were positively
correlated with the number of inhabitants of each site. Thus, more
effective actions must be taken, especially at S1, that is extremely
dirty and mostly covered by HALs. The AL contamination on the
study areas threatens socio-economic activities and the wellbeing
of both biota and humans. These findings indicate the necessity of
public policies adoption against inadequate disposal of AL along
the estuary. In addition, conservation education and outreach
techniques focused on residents and users of affected areas may
be a suitable strategy to address this environmental issue.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Victor Vasques Ribeiro: Investigation, Methodology, Writing
- original draft. Cyntia Ayumi Yokota Harayashiki: Writing -
review & editing. Alperen Ertaş: Writing - review & editing. Ítalo
Braga Castro: Conceptualization, Project administration, Writing
- original draft, Writing - review & editing.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
6
Regional Studies in Marine Science 46 (2021) 101902
Acknowledgments
This research was support by São Paulo Research Foundation,
Brazil (FAPESP n. 2019/13750-4). I.B. Castro (PQ 302713/2018-2)
was recipient of research productivity fellowship from the CNPq,
Brazil. C.A.Y. Harayashiki (FAPESP Proc. no 2018/08015-0) and
V.V. Ribeiro (FAPESP Proc. no 2020/08960) were sponsored by
São Paulo Research Foundation, Brazil. We thank the anonymous
reviewers and friends Amanda Cinquini, Keverson Soares and
Mariana Ferreira for their help during sampling.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary material related to this article can be found
online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2021.101902.
References
Abreu, F.E.L., Lima da Silva, J.N., Castro, Í.B., Fillmann, G., 2020. Are antifouling
residues a matter of concern in the largest South American port? J. Hard
Mater. 398, 122937. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122937.
Alkalay, R., Pasternak, G., Zask, A., 2007. Clean-coast index—A new approach
for beach cleanliness assessment. Ocean Coast. Manage. 50, 352–362. http:
//dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2006.10.002.
Andrades, R., Pegado, T., Godoy, B.S., Reis-Filho, J.A., Nunes, J.L.S., Grillo, A.C.,
Machado, R.C., Santos, R.G., Dalcin, R.H., Freitas, M.O., Kuhnen, V.V., Bar-
bosa, N.D., Adelir-Alves, J., Albuquerque, T., Bentes, B., Giarrizzo, T., 2020.
Anthropogenic litter on Brazilian beaches: Baseline, trends and recommen-
dations for future approaches. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 151, 110842. http://dx.doi.
org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110842.
Araújo, M.C.B., Costa, M.F., 2019. A critical review of the issue of cigarette
butt pollution in coastal environments. Environ. Res. 172, 137–149. http:
//dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2019.02.005.
Asensio-Montesinos, F., Anfuso, G., Randerson, P., Williams, A.T., 2019. Sea-
sonal comparison of beach litter on mediterranean coastal sites (Alicante,
SE Spain). Ocean Coast. Manage. 181, 104914. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
ocecoaman.2019.104914.
Asensio-Montesinos, F., Oliva Ramírez, M., González-Leal, J.M., Carrizo, D., An-
fuso, G., 2020. Characterization of plastic beach litter by Raman spectroscopy
in south-western Spain. Sci. Total Environ. 744, 140890. http://dx.doi.org/10.
1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140890.
Battisti, C., Poeta, G., Romiti, F., Picciolo, L., 2020. Small environmental actions
need of problem-solving approach: Applying project management tools to
beach litter clean-ups. Environments 7, 87.
Battisti, C., Staffieri, E., Poeta, G., Sorace, A., Luiselli, L., Amori, G., 2019.
Interactions between anthropogenic litter and birds: A global review with
a ‘black-list’ of species. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 138, 93–114. http://dx.doi.org/10.
1016/j.marpolbul.2018.11.017.
Becherucci, M.E., Rosenthal, A.F., Seco Pon, J.P., 2017. Marine debris in beaches
of the Southwestern Atlantic: An assessment of their abundance and mass at
different spatial scales in northern coastal Argentina. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 119,
299–306. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.04.030.
Begliomini, F.N., Maciel, D.C., de Almeida, S.M., Abessa, D.M., Maranho, L.A.,
Pereira, C.S., Yogui, G.T., Zanardi-Lamardo, E., Castro, Í.B., 2017. Shell alter-
ations in limpets as putative biomarkers for multi-impacted coastal areas.
Environ. Pollut. 226, 494–503. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.04.045.
Blickley, L.C., Currie, J.J., Kaufman, G.D., 2016. Trends and drivers of debris
accumulation on Maui shorelines: Implications for local mitigation strategies.
Mar. Pollut. Bull. 105, 292–298. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.
02.007.
Buruaem, L.M., de Castro, Í.B., Hortellani, M.A., Taniguchi, S., Fillmann, G.,
Sasaki, S.T., Varella Petti, M.A., Sarkis, J.E., de, S., Bícego, M.C., Maranho, L.A.,
Davanso, M.B., Nonato, E.F., Cesar, A., Costa-Lotufo, L.V., Abessa, D.M., de, S.,
2013. Integrated quality assessment of sediments from harbour areas in
Santos-São Vicente Estuarine System, Southern Brazil. Estuar. Coast. Shelf
Sci. Press. Stresses Shocks Trends Estuar. Ecosyst. 130, 179–189. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2013.06.006.
Cabral, H., Fonseca, V., Sousa, T., Costa Leal, M., 2019. Synergistic effects of
climate change and marine pollution: An overlooked interaction in coastal
and estuarine areas. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 16, 2737. http://dx.
doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16152737.
Castro, Í.B., 2019. Improper environmental sampling design bias assessments
of coastal contamination. Trends Environ. Anal. Chem. 24, e00068. http:
//dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.teac.2019.e00068.
V.V. Ribeiro, C.A.Y. Harayashiki, A. Ertaş et al.
Cheshire, A.C., Adler, E., Barbière, J., Cohen, Y., Evans, S., Jarayabhand, S., Jeftic, L.,
Jung, R.T., Kinsey, S., Kusui, E.T., Lavine, I., Manyara, P., Oosterbaan, L.,
Pereira, M.A., Sheavly, S., Tkalin, A., Varadarajan, S., Wenneker, B., West-
phalen, G., 2009. UNEP/IOC Guidelines on Survey and Monitoring of Marine
Litter. IOC Technical Series No. 83, In: UNEP Regional Seas Reports and
Studies, No. 186, p. xii 120.
Ćorluka, G., Mikinac, K., Milenkovska, A., 2016. Classification of tourist season in
coastal tourism. UTMS J. Econ. 7, 71–83.
Corraini, N.R., de Souza de Lima, A., Bonetti, J., Rangel-Buitrago, N., 2018. Troubles
in the paradise: Litter and its scenic impact on the North Santa Catarina
island beaches, Brazil. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 131, 572–579. http://dx.doi.org/10.
1016/j.marpolbul.2018.04.061.
Cortez, F.S., Souza, L., da, S., Guimarães, L.L., Almeida, J.E., Pusceddu, F.H.,
Maranho, L.A., Mota, L.G., Nobre, C.R., Moreno, B.B., Abessa, D.M., de, S.,
Cesar, A., Santos, A.R., Pereira, C.D.S., 2018. Ecotoxicological effects of losartan
on the brown mussel perna perna and its occurrence in seawater from
Santos Bay (Brazil). Sci. Total Environ. 637–638, 1363–1371. http://dx.doi.
org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.05.069.
Defontaine, S., Sous, D., Tesan, J., Monperrus, M., Lenoble, V., Lanceleur, L., 2020.
Microplastics in a salt-wedge estuary: Vertical structure and tidal dynamics.
Mar. Pollut. Bull. 160, 111688. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.
111688.
Duhec, A.V., Jeanne, R.F., Maximenko, N., Hafner, J., 2015. Composition and
potential origin of marine debris stranded in the Western Indian Ocean
on remote Alphonse Island, Seychelles. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 96, 76–86. http:
//dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.05.042.
Ferreira, M.L., Lopes, M.A., 2013. Análise quali-quantitativa do lixo na praia de
Santa Cruz dos Navegantes - Guarujá-SP-Brasil. Rev. Ceciliana 5, 30–35.
Fontes, M.K., de Campos, B.G., Cortez, F.S., Pusceddu, F.H., Moreno, B.B.,
Maranho, L.A., Lebre, D.T., Guimarães, L.L., Pereira, C.D.S., 2019. Seasonal
monitoring of cocaine and benzoylecgonine in a subtropical coastal zone
(Santos Bay, Brazil). Mar. Pollut. Bull. 149, 110545. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.marpolbul.2019.110545.
Galgani, F., Hanke, G., Werner, S., De Vrees, L., 2013. Marine litter within
the European marine strategy framework directive. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 70,
1055–1064. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fst122.
Gall, S.C., Thompson, R.C., 2015. The impact of debris on marine life. Mar. Pollut.
Bull. 92, 170–179. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.12.041.
Gallo, F., Fossi, C., Weber, R., Santillo, D., Sousa, J., Ingram, I., Nadal, A.,
Romano, D., 2018. Marine litter plastics and microplastics and their toxic
chemicals components: the need for urgent preventive measures. Environ.
Sci. Eur. 30, 13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12302-018-0139-z.
Ghosh, T., 2011. Coastal tourism: Opportunity and sustainability. J. Sustain. Dev.
4, p67. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jsd.v4n6p67.
Gjyli, L., Vlachogianni, T., Kolitari, J., Matta, G., Metalla, O., Gjyli, S., 2020.
Marine litter on the Albanian coastline: Baseline information for improved
management. Ocean Coast. Manage. 187, 105108. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.ocecoaman.2020.105108.
Gorman, D., Gutiérrez, A.R., Turra, A., Manzano, A.B., Balthazar-Silva, D.,
Oliveira, N.R., Harari, J., 2020. Predicting the dispersal and accumulation of
microplastic pellets within the estuarine and coastal waters of South-Eastern
Brazil using integrated rainfall data and Lagrangian particle tracking models.
Front. Environ. Sci. 8, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2020.559405.
Gorman, D., Moreira, F.T., Turra, A., Fontenelle, F.R., Combi, T., Bícego, M.C.,
de Castro Martins, C., 2019. Organic contamination of beached plastic
pellets in the South Atlantic: Risk assessments can benefit by considering
spatial gradients. Chemosphere 223, 608–615. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
chemosphere.2019.02.094.
Gouveia, N., Oliveira, C.R.M., Martins, C.P., Maranho, L.A., Seabra Pereira, C.D.,
de Orte, M.R., Harayashiki, C.A.Y., Almeida, S.M., Castro, I.B., 2019. Can shell
alterations in limpets be used as alternative biomarkers of coastal contam-
ination? Chemosphere 224, 9–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.
2019.02.122.
Hartley, B.L., Pahl, S., Veiga, J., Vlachogianni, T., Vasconcelos, L., Maes, T.,
Doyle, T., d’Arcy Metcalfe, R., Öztürk, A.A., Di Berardo, M., Thompson, R.C.,
2018. Exploring public views on marine litter in Europe: Perceived causes,
consequences and pathways to change. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 133, 945–955.
Hidalgo-Ruz, V., Honorato-Zimmer, D., Gatta-Rosemary, M., Nuñez, P., Hino-
josa, I.A., Thiel, M., 2018. Spatio-temporal variation of anthropogenic marine
debris on Chilean beaches. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 126, 516–524. http://dx.doi.org/
10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.11.014.
Hoellein, T.J., Westhoven, M., Lyandres, O., Cross, J., 2015. Abundance and
environmental drivers of anthropogenic litter on 5 Lake Michigan beaches:
A study facilitated by citizen science data collection. J. Gt. Lakes Res. 41,
78–86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2014.12.015.
Ibge, 2020. Estimativa Da População Brasileira - Cidades e Estados. Instituto
Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
Izar, G.M., Morais, L.G., Pereira, C.D.S., Cesar, A., Abessa, D.M.S., Christofoletti, R.A.,
2019. Quantitative analysis of pellets on beaches of the São Paulo coast and
associated non-ingested ecotoxicological effects on marine organisms. Reg.
Stud. Mar. Sci. 29, 100705. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2019.100705.
7
Regional Studies in Marine Science 46 (2021) 101902
Kaviarasan, T., Naik, S., Sivadas, S.K., Dhineka, K., Sambandam, M., Sivyer, D.,
Mishra, P., Ramana Murthy, M.V., 2020. Assessment of litter in the remote
beaches of Lakshadweep Islands, Arabian Sea. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 161, 111760.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111760.
Kim, B.S.M., Angeli, J.L.F., Ferreira, P.A., de, L., Sartoretto, J.R., Miyoshi, C.,
de Mahiques, M.M., Figueira, R.C.L., 2017. Use of a chemometric tool to
establish the regional background and assess trace metal enrichment at
Baixada Santista – southeastern Brazil. Chemosphere 166, 372–379. http:
//dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.09.132.
Krelling, A.P., Turra, A., 2019. Influence of oceanographic and meteorological
events on the quantity and quality of marine debris along an estuarine gra-
dient. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 139, 282–298. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.
2018.12.049.
Leite, A.S., Santos, L.L., Costa, Y., Hatje, V., 2014. Influence of proximity to an
urban center in the pattern of contamination by marine debris. Mar. Pollut.
Bull. 81, 242–247. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.01.032.
Lu, Y., Yuan, J., Lu, X., Su, C., Zhang, Y., Wang, C., Cao, X., Li, Q., Su, J., Ittekkot, V.,
Garbutt, R.A., Bush, S., Fletcher, S., Wagey, T., Kachur, A., Sweijd, N., 2018.
Major threats of pollution and climate change to global coastal ecosystems
and enhanced management for sustainability. Environ. Pollut. 239, 670–680.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.016.
Maleki, M., Soria, K., 2020. Multivariate geostatistical modeling and risk analysis
of beach litter: A case study of Playa Blanca Beach, Chile. Int. J. Environ. Res.
Public Health 17, 8384. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228384.
Maziane, F., Nachite, D., Anfuso, G., 2018. Artificial polymer materials debris
characteristics along the Moroccan Mediterranean coast. Mar. Pollut. Bull.
128, 1–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.12.067.
Mokos, M., Rokov, T., Zubak Čižmek, I., 2020. Monitoring and analysis of marine
litter in Vodenjak cove on Iž Island, central Croatian Adriatic Sea. Rend. Lincei
Sci. Fis. Nat. 31, 905–912. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12210-020-00934-6.
Moreira, F.T., Balthazar-Silva, D., Barbosa, L., Turra, A., 2016. Revealing accumula-
tion zones of plastic pellets in sandy beaches. Environ. Pollut. 218, 313–321.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2016.07.006.
Munari, C., Corbau, C., Simeoni, U., Mistri, M., 2016. Marine litter on Mediter-
ranean shores: Analysis of composition, spatial distribution and sources in
north-western Adriatic beaches. Waste Manage. 49, 483–490. http://dx.doi.
org/10.1016/j.wasman.2015.12.010.
Nachite, D., Maziane, F., Anfuso, G., Williams, A.T., 2019. Spatial and temporal
variations of litter at the Mediterranean beaches of Morocco mainly due to
beach users. Ocean Coast. Manage. 179, 104846. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
ocecoaman.2019.104846.
Nelms, S.E., Eyles, L., Godley, B.J., Richardson, P.B., Selley, H., Solandt, J.-L.,
Witt, M.J., 2020. Investigating the distribution and regional occurrence of
anthropogenic litter in English marine protected areas using 25 years of
citizen-science beach clean data. Environ. Pollut. 263, 114365. http://dx.doi.
org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114365.
Oliveira, C.R.M., Mantovani de Castro, L., Alves da Cruz Nazareth, M.,
Harayashiki, C.A.Y., Castro, Í.B., 2020. Shell structure and composition alter-
ations in the limpet lottia subrugosa along a contamination gradient in the
Santos Estuary, Brazil. Ecol. Indic. 115, 106417. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
ecolind.2020.106417.
Pieper, C., Amaral-Zettler, L., Law, K.L., Loureiro, C.M., Martins, A., 2019. Appli-
cation of Matrix Scoring Techniques to evaluate marine debris sources in
the remote islands of the Azores Archipelago. Environ. Pollut. 249, 666–675.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.03.084.
Poeta, G., Battisti, C., Bazzichetto, M., Acosta, A.T., 2016. The cotton buds beach:
marine litter assessment along the Tyrrhenian coast of central Italy following
the marine strategy framework directive criteria. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 113,
266–270.
Poeta, G., Fanelli, G., Pietrelli, L., Acosta, A., Battisti, C., 2017b. Plastisphere in
action: evidence for an interaction between expanded polystyrene and dunal
plants. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 24, 11856–11859. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/
s11356-017-8887-7, (2017).
Poeta, G., Staffieri, E., Acosta, A., Battisti, C., 2017a. Ecological effects of an-
thropogenic litter on marine mammals: A global review with a black-list
of impacted taxa. Hystrix 28, http://dx.doi.org/10.4404/hystrix-00003-2017.
Pozo, K., Urbina, W., Gómez, V., Torres, M., Nuñez, D., Přibylová, P., Audy, O.,
Clarke, B., Arias, A., Tombesi, N., Guida, Y., Klánová, J., 2020. Persistent
organic pollutants sorbed in plastic resin pellet — Nurdles from coastal areas
of Central Chile. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 151, 110786. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
marpolbul.2019.110786.
Prevenios, M., Zeri, C., Tsangaris, C., Liubartseva, S., Fakiris, E., Papatheodorou, G.,
2018. Beach litter dynamics on Mediterranean coasts: Distinguishing sources
and pathways. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 129, 448–457. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
marpolbul.2017.10.013.
Pusceddu, F.H., Sugauara, L.E., de Marchi, M.R., Choueri, R.B., Castro, Í.B., 2019.
Estrogen levels in surface sediments from a multi-impacted Brazilian es-
tuarine system. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 142, 576–580. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
marpolbul.2019.03.052.
V.V. Ribeiro, C.A.Y. Harayashiki, A. Ertaş et al.
Quevedo, M.D., Gonçalves, R.F., Gonzales, Fabiana, 2011. O conhecimento sobre a
utilização de plantas medicinais em dois municípios do litoral de São Paulo,
SP. Rev. Ceciliana 3, 35–39.
Rangel-Buitrago, N., Gracia, C.A., Velez-Mendoza, A., Carvajal-Florián, A., Mojica-
Martinez, L., Neal, W.J., 2019. Where did this refuse come from? Marine
anthropogenic litter on a remote island of the Colombian Caribbean sea. Mar.
Pollut. Bull. 149, 110611. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110611.
Rangel-Buitrago, N., Velez-Mendoza, A., Gracia, A., Neal, W.J., 2020. The impact
of anthropogenic litter on Colombia’s central Caribbean beaches. Mar. Pollut.
Bull. 152, 110909.
Ribeiro, V.V., 2020. Índice de Poluição por Pellets (IPP) na Baía de Santos (SP)
no inverno de 2019. Rev. Sítio Novo 4, 102–111. http://dx.doi.org/10.47236/
2594-7036.2020.v4.i2.102-111p.
Ribeiro, V.V., Pinto, M.A.S., Mesquita, R.K.B., Moreira, L.B., Costa, M.F., Castro, Í.B.,
2021. Marine litter on a highly urbanized beach at Southeast Brazil: A
contribution to the development of litter monitoring programs. Mar. Pollut.
Bull. 163, 111978. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.111978.
Ribeiro, V.V., Santos, V.R.D., 2020. Pellets plásticos na praia de Santa Cruz dos
Navegantes, Guarujá (SP), durante evento de frente fria no inverno de 2019.
Rev. Int. Ciênc. 10, 108–123. http://dx.doi.org/10.12957/ric.2020.47373.
Ríos, N., Frias, J.P.G.L., Rodríguez, Y., Carriço, R., Garcia, S.M., Juliano, M.,
Pham, C.K., 2018. Spatio-temporal variability of beached macro-litter on
remote islands of the North Atlantic. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 133, 304–311. http:
//dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.05.038.
Rodrigues, A., Oliver, D.M., McCarron, A., Quilliam, R.S., 2019. Colonisation of
plastic pellets (nurdles) by E. coli at public bathing beaches. Mar. Pollut.
Bull. 139, 376–380. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.01.011.
Roveri, V., Guimarães, L.L., Correia, A.T., 2020. Spatial and temporal evaluation
of the urban runoff water flowing into recreational areas of Guarujá, São
Paulo State, Brazil. Int. J. River Basin Manage. 1–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/
15715124.2020.1776304.
Santana, M.F.M., Ascer, L.G., Custódio, M.R., Moreira, F.T., Turra, A., 2016. Mi-
croplastic contamination in natural mussel beds from a Brazilian urbanized
coastal region: Rapid evaluation through bioassessment. Mar. Pollut. Bull.
106, 183–189. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.02.074.
Sarafraz, J., Rajabizadeh, M., Kamrani, E., 2016. The preliminary assessment
of abundance and composition of marine beach debris in the northern
Persian Gulf, Bandar Abbas City, Iran. J. Mar. Biol. Assoc. U. K. 96, 131–135.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0025315415002076.
Šilc, U., Küzmič, F., Caković, D., Stešević, D., 2018. Beach litter along various sand
dune habitats in the southern Adriatic (E Mediterranean). Mar. Pollut. Bull.
128, 353–360. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.01.045.
Silva, C.A.N., 2011. A poluição visual causada pelos quiosques na faixa de areia
da praia da enseada – Guarujá. Rev. Eletrôn. Divulg. Cient. Fac. Domên. 4,
52–64.
Simeonova, A., Chuturkova, R., 2019. Marine litter accumulation along the
Bulgarian Black Sea coast: Categories and predominance. Waste Manage. 84,
182–193. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2018.11.001.
Simeonova, A., Chuturkova, R., Yaneva, V., 2017. Seasonal dynamics of marine
litter along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 119, 110–118.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.03.035.
Souza, C.R. de G., 2015. Variabilidade morfológica e granulométrica e balanço
sedimentar de uma praia em rotação praial. Quat. Environ. Geosci. 6, http:
//dx.doi.org/10.5380/abequa.v6i1.38573.
Regional Studies in Marine Science 46 (2021) 101902
Staffieri, E., de Lucia, G.A., Camedda, A., Poeta, G., Battisti, C., 2019. Pressure
and impact of anthropogenic litter on marine and estuarine reptiles: an
updated blacklist highlighting gaps of evidence. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 26,
1238–1249. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3616-4.
Suciu, M.C., Tavares, D.C., Costa, L.L., Silva, M.C.L., Zalmon, I.R., 2017. Evaluation
of environmental quality of sandy beaches in southeastern Brazil. Mar. Pollut.
Bull. 119, 133–142. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.04.045.
Taniguchi, S., Colabuono, F.I., Dias, P.S., Oliveira, R., Fisner, M., Turra, A., Izar, G.M.,
Abessa, D.M.S., Saha, M., Hosoda, J., Yamashita, R., Takada, H., Lourenço, R.A.,
Magalhães, C.A., Bícego, M.C., Montone, R.C., 2016. Spatial variability in
persistent organic pollutants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found in
beach-stranded pellets along the coast of the state of São Paulo, southeastern
Brazil. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 106, 87–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.
2016.03.024.
Terzi, Y., Erüz, C., Özşeker, K., 2020. Marine litter composition and sources on
coasts of south-eastern Black Sea: A long-term case study. Waste Manage.
105, 139–147. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2020.01.032.
Terzi, Y., Seyhan, K., 2017. Seasonal and spatial variations of marine litter on
the south-eastern Black Sea coast. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 120, 154–158. http:
//dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.04.041.
Topçu, E.N., Tonay, A.M., Dede, A., Öztürk, A.A., Öztürk, B., 2013. Origin and
abundance of marine litter along sandy beaches of the Turkish Western
Black Sea Coast. Mar. Environ. Res. 85, 21–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
marenvres.2012.12.006.
Turner, A., 2021. Polystyrene foam as a source and sink of chemicals in the
marine environment: An XRF study. Chemosphere 263, 128087. http://dx.
doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.128087.
Turra, A., Manzano, A.B., Dias, R.J.S., Mahiques, M.M., Barbosa, L., Balthazar-
Silva, D., Moreira, F.T., 2014. Three-dimensional distribution of plastic pellets
in sandy beaches: shifting paradigms. Sci. Rep. 4 (4435), http://dx.doi.org/10.
1038/srep04435.
Vincent, A.E.S., Hoellein, T.J., 2017. Anthropogenic litter abundance and accu-
mulation rates point to seasonal litter sources on a great lakes beach.
J. Contemp. Water Res. Educ. 160, 72–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1936-
704X.2017.03241.x.
Vlachogianni, T., Fortibuoni, T., Ronchi, F., Zeri, C., Mazziotti, C., Tutman, P.,
Varezić, .D.B., Palatinus, A., Trdan, Š., Peterlin, M., Mandić, M., Markovic, O.,
Prvan, M., Kaberi, H., Prevenios, M., Kolitari, J., Kroqi, G., Fusco, M., Kalam-
pokis, E., Scoullos, M., 2018. Marine litter on the beaches of the Adriatic and
Ionian Seas: An assessment of their abundance, composition and sources.
Mar. Pollut. Bull. 131, 745–756. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.
05.006.
Weideman, E.A., Perold, V., Omardien, A., Smyth, L.K., Ryan, P.G., 2020. Quantify-
ing temporal trends in anthropogenic litter in a rocky intertidal habitat. Mar.
Pollut. Bull. 160, 111543. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111543.
Wilson, S.P., Verlis, K.M., 2017. The ugly face of tourism: Marine debris pollution
linked to visitation in the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Mar. Pollut.
Bull. 117, 239–246. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.01.036.
Zhao, W., Huang, W., Yin, M., Huang, P., Ding, Y., Ni, X., Xia, H., Liu, H., Wang, G.,
Zheng, H., Cai, M., 2020. Tributary inflows enhance the microplastic load in
the estuary: A case from the Qiantang River. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 156, 111152.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111152.