An experiment was designed to test if the contamination of intensely used beaches by solid wastes could be correlated to the presence of users. Profiles perpendicular to the water line were marked on Boa Viagem Beach, Recife City, Pernambuco, Brazilian Northeast. The solid waste items collected within these profiles at days of high user frequency revealed that some items might be used as flags for the presence (and contribution to the contamination) of users on the beach. Such items especially abundant were plastic cups and drinking straws. The contamination of the beach has the same qualitative character at all sites at all times. However, the amount of flag items changes according to the more intense use of the beach, especially during summer weekends and sociocultural events, when use reaches its maximum intensity.
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1 July 2008
Flag Items as a Tool for Monitoring Solid Wastes from Users on Urban Beaches
Jacqueline S. Silva,
Scheyla C. T. Barbosa,
Monica F. Costa
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Journal of Coastal Research
Vol. 2008 • No. 244
July 2008
Vol. 2008 • No. 244
July 2008
carrying capacity
flag items
indicators
perpendicular profiles
plastics
solid waste contamination