Plastic pellets on the beaches of Santos during the winter of 2018 and 2019 Victor Vasques Ribeiro

Abstract

Pellets are granules used as raw material to produce plastic materials. In the event of failures in production, transformation, transportation, and storage activities, these granules can be lost to marine environments, where they can adsorb pollutants and impact biota. On sandy beaches, the pellets are deposited in the cue line and can then be stored in the dry portions of the sediments or transported again by the tide to other beaches. The present study carried out pellet sampling on the seven beaches of Santos in the winter of 2018 to verify significant differences in the deposition of recent pellets between the beaches. In the winter of 2019, it was verified whether these beaches act as “distributors” or “storage” of pellets. Periodic cleaning of the beaches may have underestimated the values ​​obtained. In 2018, the beaches in the center of the beach arch received larger amounts of pellets, as did the Ponta da Praia, however, there were no significant differences between the beaches. In 2019, the beaches in the center of the beach arch received the largest quantities of pellets and acted significantly as pellet “distributors”. Only the beaches of José Menino and Aparecida were considered pellet “storage” sites.