Abstract
We quantify plastic litter (PL, > 2 cm) and microplastics (MP, < 5 mm) from the sediments of a beach formed at a riverine depositional area, at the upper Amazon River basin, Ecuador. In the collection area (4400 m2), the PL density was 0.045 items m−2, where low-density polyethylene bags were the prevalent PL. The beach was classified as “very clean” (Clean Coast Index (CCI) of 1.3 items m−2). Regarding MP, in 55 sampling stations, average MP concentrations ranged from 0 to 2200 items kg−1 of dry sediment (0.5–2 mm), and 0–4200 items kg−1 of dry sediment (2–5 mm). Blue fibers were the prevalent MP. Our results represent the first report to show the ubiquitous presence of PL and MP for the area. The monitoring and management of plastic disposal in freshwater beaches are necessary, as here we report a small part of an undocumented issue.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alexiades AV, Encalada AC, Lessmann J, Guayasamin JM (2019) Spatial prediction of stream physicochemical parameters for the Napo River Basin, Ecuador. J Freshw Ecol 34(1):247–261. https://doi.org/10.1080/02705060.2018.1542353
Alkalay R, Pasternak G, Zask A (2007) Clean-coast index—a new approach for beach cleanliness assessment. Ocean Coast Manag 50(5–6):352–362. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2006.10.002
Anderson EP, Jenkins CN, Heilpern S, Maldonado-Ocampo JA, Carvajal-Vallejos FM, Encalada AC, Rivadeneira JF, Hidalgo M, Cañas CM, Ortega H, Salcedo N, Maldonado M, Tedesco PA (2018) Fragmentation of Andes-to-Amazon connectivity by hydropower dams. Sci Adv 4(1):eaao1642. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aao1642
Andrady AL (2017) The plastic in microplastics: a review. Mar Pollut Bull 119(1):12–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.01.082
Andrady AL, Pandey KK, Heikkilä AM (2019) Interactive effects of solar UV radiation and climate change on material damage. Photochem Photobiol Sci 18(3):804–825. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8PP90065E
Blettler MCM, Ulla MA, Rabuffetti AP, Garello N (2017) Plastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems: macro-, meso-, and microplastic debris in a floodplain lake. Environ Monit Assess 189(11):581. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-6305-8
Blettler MCM, Garello N, Ginon L, Abrial E, Espinola LA, Wantzen KM (2019) Massive plastic pollution in a mega-river of a developing country: sediment deposition and ingestion by fish (Prochilodus lineatus). Environ Pollut 255:113348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113348
Capparelli MV, Moulatlet GM, de Abessa DMS, Lucas-Solis O, Rosero B, Galarza E, Tuba D, Carpintero N, Ochoa-Herrera V, Cipriani-Avila I (2020) An integrative approach to identify the impacts of multiple metal contamination sources on the Eastern Andean foothills of the Ecuadorian Amazonia. Sci Total Environ 709:136088. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136088
Encalada AC, Flecker AS, Poff NL, Suárez E, Herrera-R GA, Ríos-Touma B, Jumani S, Larson EI, Anderson EP (2019) A global perspective on tropical montane rivers. Science 365(6458):1124–1129. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax1682
Galarza E, Cabrera M, Espinosa R, Espitia E, Moulatlet GM, Capparelli MV (2021) Assessing the quality of amazon aquatic ecosystems with multiple lines of evidence: the case of the Northeast Andean foothills of Ecuador. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-020-03089-0
Gerolin CR, Pupim FN, Sawakuchi AO, Grohmann CH, Labuto G, Semensatto D (2020) Microplastics in sediments from Amazon rivers, Brazil. Sci Total Environ 749:141604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141604
Gimiliani GT, Fornari M, Redígolo MM, Willian Vega Bustillos JO, Moledo de Souza Abessa D, Faustino Pires MA (2020) Simple and cost-effective method for microplastic quantification in estuarine sediment: a case study of the Santos and São Vicente Estuarine System. Case Stud Chem Environ Eng. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscee.2020.100020
GPPM (2015) Actualización del plan de desarrollo y ordenamiento territorial: Parroquia Puerto Misahuallí Cantón Tena – Provincia de Napo. Gobierno Parroquial de Puerto Misahualli. http://app.sni.gob.ec/sni-link/sni/PORTAL_SNI/data_sigad_plus/sigadplusdiagnostico/1560507250001_PDOT_2015_PMisahualli_15-05-2015_09-11-36.pdf
Gündoğdu S, Çevik C, Ayat B, Aydoğan B, Karaca S (2018) How microplastics quantities increase with flood events? An example from Mersin Bay NE Levantine coast of Turkey. Environ Pollut 239:342–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.042
Hurley R, Woodward J, Rothwell JJ (2018) Microplastic contamination of river beds significantly reduced by catchment-wide flooding. Nat Geosci 11(4):251–257. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0080-1
Ikiam Hydrometeorological Service (2020) Meteorological and hydrological stations network: Meteoviewer, version 3.4. Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam. http://hidrometeorologia.ikiam.edu.ec/meteoviewer/. Accessed 24 Dec 2020
Jayasiri HB, Purushothaman CS, Vennila A (2013) Plastic litter accumulation on high-water strandline of urban beaches in Mumbai, India. Environ Monit Assess 185(9):7709–7719. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-013-3129-z
Klein S, Worch E, Knepper TP (2015) Occurrence and spatial distribution of microplastics in river shore sediments of the Rhine-Main area in Germany. Environ Sci Technol 49(10):6070–6076. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b00492
Leads RR, Weinstein JE (2019) Occurrence of tire wear particles and other microplastics within the tributaries of the Charleston Harbor Estuary, South Carolina, USA. Mar Pollut Bull 145:569–582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.06.061
Lebreton L, Andrady A (2019) Future scenarios of global plastic waste generation and disposal. Palgrave Commun 5(1):6. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-018-0212-7
Lebreton LCM, van der Zwet J, Damsteeg J-W, Slat B, Andrady A, Reisser J (2017) River plastic emissions to the world’s oceans. Nat Commun 8(1):15611. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15611
Lessmann J, Troya MJ, Flecker AS, Funk WC, Guayasamin JM, Ochoa-Herrera V, Poff NL, Suárez E, Encalada AC (2019) Validating anthropogenic threat maps as a tool for assessing river ecological integrity in Andean-Amazon basins. PeerJ 7:e8060. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8060
Marcinek AA, Hunt CA (2019) Tourism and cultural commons in the Ecuadorian Amazon. J Tour Cult Change 17(4):449–466. https://doi.org/10.1080/14766825.2019.1591711
Martinelli Filho JE, Monteiro RCP (2019) Widespread microplastics distribution at an Amazon macrotidal sandy beach. Mar Pollut Bull 145:219–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.05.049
Masura J, Baker J, Foster G, Arthur C (2015) Laboratory Methods for the Analysis of Microplastics in the Marine Environment: recommendations for quantifying synthetic particles in waters and sediments. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS-OR&R-48. https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/10296
Mohamed Nor NH, Obbard JP (2014) Microplastics in Singapore’s coastal mangrove ecosystems. Mar Pollut Bull 79(1–2):278–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.11.025
Rangel-Buitrago N, Velez-Mendoza A, Gracia CA, Neal WJ (2020) The impact of anthropogenic litter on Colombia’s central Caribbean beaches. Mar Pollut Bull 152:110909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.110909
Salo J, Kalliola R, Häkkinen I, Mäkinen Y, Niemelä P, Puhakka M, Coley PD (1986) River dynamics and the diversity of Amazon lowland forest. Nature 322(6076):254–258
Uneputty PA, Evans SM (1997) Accumulation of beach litter on islands of the Pulau Seribu Archipelago, Indonesia. Mar Pollut Bull 34(8):652–655. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-326X(97)00006-4
Yang L, Zhang Y, Kang S, Wang Z, Wu C (2021) Microplastics in freshwater sediment: a review on methods, occurrence, and sources. Sci Total Environ 754:141948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141948
Zambrano-Monserrate MA, Ruano MA (2020) Do you need a bag? Analyzing the consumption behavior of plastic bags of households in Ecuador. Resour Conserv Recycl 152:104489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104489
Acknowledgements
This investigation received financial support from the European Union in coordination with the Spanish Cooperation International Agency for Development (AECID), granted to MVC. We are thankful to Ikiam driver Pablo Neris “Don Tito” Paz Andrade of the Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of 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 paper.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lucas-Solis, O., Moulatlet, G.M., Guamangallo, J. et al. Preliminary Assessment of Plastic Litter and Microplastic Contamination in Freshwater Depositional Areas: The Case Study of Puerto Misahualli, Ecuadorian Amazonia. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 107, 45–51 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-021-03138-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-021-03138-2