Coastal zones
; Ocean currents
; Pollution
; Population dynamics
; Population statistics
; Spatial distribution
; Anthropogenic contaminants
; Country-wide
; High population density
; Human population
; Industrial activities
; Microfibers
; Plastic pollutions
; Population densities
; Marine pollution
; microplastic
; plastic
; unclassified drug
; plastic
; water pollutant
; anthropogenic effect
; coastal zone
; demography
; marine pollution
; plastic waste
; population density
; spatial distribution
; Article
; demography
; geographic and geological phenomena
; geographic distribution
; industrial area
; marine environment
; population density
; prediction
; seashore
; sediment
; South Africa
; surf zone water
; water pollution
; analysis
; environmental monitoring
; human
; population density
; spatial analysis
; water pollutant
; Durban Harbour
; KwaZulu-Natal
; Richards Bay Harbour
; South Africa
; Environmental Monitoring
; Humans
; Plastics
; Population Density
; South Africa
; Spatial Analysis
; Water Pollutants, Chemical
Scopus学科分类:
Agricultural and Biological Sciences: Aquatic Science
; Earth and Planetary Sciences: Oceanography
; Environmental Science: Pollution
英文摘要:
Plastic pollution is a major anthropogenic contaminant effecting the marine environment and is often associated with high human population densities and industrial activities. The microplastic (63 to 5000�μm) burden of beach sediment and surf-zone water was investigated at selected sites along the entire length of the South African coastline. It was predicted that samples collected in areas of high population density, would contain a higher microplastic burden than those along coasts that demonstrate very low population densities. With the exception of water column microplastics within Richard's Bay Harbour (413.3���77.53�particles�m−�3) and Durban Harbour (1200���133.2�particles�m−�3), there were no significant spatial differences in microplastic loads. This supports the theory that harbours act as a source of microplastics for the surrounding marine environment. Additionally, the absence of any spatial variation highlights the possible long range distribution of microplastic pollutants by large scale ocean currents. � 2017 Elsevier Ltd
Department of Zoology and Entomology, Faculty of Science, Rhodes University, PO Box 94, Grahamstown, South Africa; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown, South Africa
Recommended Citation:
Nel H.A.,Hean J.W.,Noundou X.S.,et al. Do microplastic loads reflect the population demographics along the southern African coastline?[J]. Marine Pollution Bulletin,2017-01-01,115(2018-01-02)