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Updated: Dec 28, 2025

Data Collection on Marine Litter Ingestion in Sea Turtles and Thresholds for Good Environmental Status
Published on: May 18, 2019
Anthropogenic litter on Brazilian beaches: Baseline, trends and recommendations for future approaches
Ryan Andrades1, Tamyris Pegado2, Bruno S Godoy3
1Núcleo de Ecologia Aquática e Pesca da Amazônia, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, PA, Brazil; Laboratório de Ictiologia, Departamento de Oceanografia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES, Brazil.
Abstract:
Beaches are fundamental habitats that regulate the functioning of several coastal processes and key areas contributing to national and local budgets. In this study we provide the first large-scale systematic survey of anthropogenic litter on Brazilian beaches, covering a total of 35 degrees of latitude, recording the litter type, its use and size. Plastic comprised the most abundant litter type, followed by cigarette butts and paper. Small pieces (<5 cm) were dominant among litter size-classes and food-related use was associated to most litter recorded types. Generalized additive models showed that proximity to estuarine run-offs was the main driver to beach litter accumulation, reinforcing river drainages as the primary route of litter coastal pollution. Also, the Clean-Coast Index evidenced there was not a pattern of beach litter pollution among regions, which denotes that actions regarding marine pollution must be taken by all state governances of the country.
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