Open AccessMarine litter pollution along sandy beaches of Can Gio coast, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Author(s) -
Thanh-Khiet L. Bui,
Quoc-Khanh Pham,
Nhu-Thuy Doan,
T. X. Nguyen,
Van-Nghia Nguyen,
Kieu Lan Phuong Nguyen,
Hong Hanh Nguyen,
Hồng Quân Nguyễn
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/964/1/012017
Subject(s) - marine debris , wet season , litter , dry season , environmental science , fishing , plastic pollution , pollution , debris , geography , transect , fishery , environmental protection , ecology , biology , meteorology , cartography
Marine debris is a significant threat to the marine environment, human health and the economy in Can Gio island, Vietnam. In this study, we conducted beach litter surveys to quantify and characterize marine litter from six beach transects in this region for the first time using the OSPAR beach litter monitoring guideline. A total of 29,456 items weighting 529,432 g was recorded from 12 surveys in two monitoring campaigns in December 2019 (dry season) and in June 2020 (rainy season). Plastic was the most abundant type of litter in terms of quantity (a total of 26,662 items) and weight (325,606 g), followed by paper and cardboard, cloth, wood, metal, glass and ceramics, rubber and other items. Meanwhile, ropes (less than 1 cm in diameter) and plastic bags accounted for the major parts of sampled plastic items, i.e., 20.18% and 14.46%, respectively. In general, a higher percentage of marine litter, particularly the fishing related items, was found in the rainy season than in the dry season, possibly due to increased fishing and aquaculture activities. In contrast, a reduction pattern of the single use plastics in the rainy season might be due to the decreased tourism activities during the Covid pandemic period. This study not only showed the magnitude of litter pollution, but also provided valuable information that could help decision making to better control and reduce marine litter in the region. In addition, insights from this study indicate that there is an urgent need to design collection, reuse and recycling programs in the area. The collected recyclables, specially plastics, will be a great source of materials for recyclers in a circular economy achieving sustainable development goals.