DO PLASTIC PELLETS HAVE THE SAME DESTINATION AS SEDIMENTS ON THE BEACHES OF SANTOS AND SÃO VICENTE? Victor Vasques Ribeiro

Abstract

This study aimed to determine whether plastic pellets are deposited in a similar way to sediments on the beaches of Santos and São Vicente. For this purpose, sampling was carried out in April 2019 on two beaches in São Vicente. For the beaches of Santos, data from Ribeiro (2020a) from the winter of 2019 were used. Considering that the pellets deposited in the dry portion of the sediment are those that were stored by the action of the wind and cannot be transported to other beaches by the action of the tides, only this portion was considered. The Pellet Pollution Index (PPI) was used to standardize and classify the values ​​found, which were then subjected to a polynomial trend line, as well as the values ​​of sediment gain or loss per year, between 2003 and 2016, found by Freire et al. (2017). A total of 351 pellets were found on the beaches of São Vicente, with Low (0.963) to Very High (3.400; 3.844; 4.667; and 5.178) PPIs, and 894 on the beaches of Santos, with Low (0.667) to Very High (4.489; 10.000; and 10.844) PPIs. Nevertheless, only the beaches of São Vicente presented a polynomial trend line that approximates the trend of sediment loss or gain.