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Harris PT, Westerveld L, Nyberg B, et al. Exposure of coastal environments to river-sourced plastic pollution. Sci Total Environ. 2021;769:145222doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145222.
Harris, P. T., Westerveld, L., Nyberg, B., Maes, T., Macmillan-Lawler, M., & Appelquist, L. R. (2021). Exposure of coastal environments to river-sourced plastic pollution. The Science of the total environment, 769145222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145222
Harris, P T, et al. "Exposure of coastal environments to river-sourced plastic pollution." The Science of the total environment vol. 769 (2021): 145222. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145222
Harris PT, Westerveld L, Nyberg B, Maes T, Macmillan-Lawler M, Appelquist LR. Exposure of coastal environments to river-sourced plastic pollution. Sci Total Environ. 2021 May 15;769:145222. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145222. Epub 2021 Jan 18. PMID: 33736229.
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Sci Total Environ. 2021 May 15;769:145222. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145222. Epub 2021 Jan 18.

Exposure of coastal environments to river-sourced plastic pollution.

The Science of the total environment

P T Harris, L Westerveld, B Nyberg, T Maes, M Macmillan-Lawler, L R Appelquist

Affiliations

  1. GRID-Arendal, P.O. Box 183, N-4802 Arendal, Norway. Electronic address: [email protected].
  2. GRID-Arendal, P.O. Box 183, N-4802 Arendal, Norway.
  3. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bergen, P.O. Box 7803, 5020 Bergen, Norway.

PMID: 33736229 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145222

Abstract

Marine litter is a global problem which poses an increasing threat to ecosystem services, human health, safety and sustainable livelihoods. In order to better plan plastic pollution monitoring and clean-up activities, and to develop policies and programmes to deter and mitigate plastic pollution, information is urgently needed on the different types of coastal ecosystem that are impacted by land-sourced plastic inputs, especially those located in proximity to river mouths where plastic waste is discharged into the ocean. We overlayed the most current existing information on the input of plastic to the sea from land-based sources with maps of coastal environments and ecosystems. We found an inverse relationship exists between coastal geomorphic type, plastic trapping efficiency and the mass of plastic received. River-dominated coasts comprise only 0.87% of the global coast and yet they receive 52% of plastic pollution delivered by fluvial systems. Tide-dominated coasts receive 29.9% of river-borne plastic pollution and this is also where mangrove and salt marsh habitats are most common. Wave-dominated coasts receive 11.6% of river-borne plastic pollution and this is where seagrass habitat is most common. Finally, rocky shores comprise 72.5% of the global coast, containing fjords and coral reefs, while only receiving 6.4% of river-borne plastic pollution. Mangroves are the most proximal to river-borne plastic pollution point sources of the four habitat types studied here; 54.0% of mangrove habitat is within 20 km of a river that discharges more than 1 t/yr of plastic pollution into the ocean. For seagrass, salt marsh and coral reefs the figures are 24.1%, 22.7% and 16.5%, respectively. The findings allow us to better understand the environmental fate of plastic pollution, to advance numerical models and to guide managers and decision-makers on the most appropriate responses and actions needed to monitor and reduce plastic pollution.

Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Keywords: Coastal environment; Estuarine; Mangrove; Plastic pollution; River source; Wave/tide exposure

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this pa

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