Anthropogenic and plastic litter on the coasts of the south-eastern part of the Baltic Sea

Beach pollution by marine litter, especially plastic products and their fragments, is influenced by intensive recreational use, coastal development, fishing and shipping. These plastic products have exceptionally long degradation times in the natural marine environment. Monitoring surveys show the presence of different types of litter on beaches. Anthropogenic litter, which includes natural litter such as wood chips, cones, wood fragments, amber, feathers, seaweed, glass, ceramics, charcoal and plastic litter. Monitoring was carried out at five city and village beaches on the Baltic coast of Kaliningrad: (1) Yantarny beach, (2) Baltiysk beach, (3) Baltic (Vistula) Spit beach, (4) Zelenogradsk beach - the root of the Curonian Spit, (5) Kurshskaya Spit National Park beach near the village of Morskoye. The assessment was carried out according to the widely used OSPAR (OSPAR, 2010) method (data are presented in tables). The OSPAR method defines nine parent categories (plastic, rubber, textile, paper, wood, metal, glass, sanitary and medical products) and 110 specific item categories, with the possibility of recording unlisted items. Frequently encountered (>30 times) unrecorded items are added to the item list for future rounds of measurements. Samples found were visually inspected and categorised by the researcher (anthropogenic and plastic). All litter found was weighed on the beach and transported to the laboratory (except for large items). In the laboratory, the plastic litter was dried and weighed again (the results of the weighing are given in the tables). Tables structure: Аnthropogenic items- number of pieces of non-plastic litter (metal, ceramic, glass, etc.) including those of natural origin (wood, amber, ets); S - area of the part of the beach where monitoring was carried out; Anthropogenic items/m2- the number of samples found in relation to the area of the beach where the monitoring was carried out; Weight of anthropogenic litter, g- weight of dry anthropogenic litter; Anthropogenic litter, gDw/m2- litter dry weight divided by the area of the beach surveyed; Weight of plastic litter, g- weight of dry plastic litter; Plastic litter, gDw/m2- litter dry dry plastic litter to the area of the surveyed beach; Plastic items- number of pieces of plastic litter; Plasticitems/m2- number of items found in relation to the area of the beach surveyed.海洋垃圾（尤其是塑料制品及其碎片）造成的海滩污染，受到高强度休闲活动、沿海开发、渔业与航运的显著影响。此类塑料制品在自然海洋环境中的降解周期极长。 监测调查显示海滩上存在多种类型的垃圾，其中人为源垃圾涵盖天然类垃圾（如木屑、松果、木片、琥珀、羽毛、海藻）与人工类垃圾（如玻璃、陶瓷、炭制品及塑料垃圾）。 本次监测在加里宁格勒波罗的海沿岸的5处城镇与乡村海滩开展：(1) 扬塔尔内海滩（Yantarny beach），(2) 波罗的斯克海滩（Baltiysk beach），(3) 波罗的海（维斯瓦）沙嘴海滩（Baltic (Vistula) Spit beach），(4) 泽列诺格拉茨克海滩——库罗尼亚沙嘴的起点，(5) 莫尔斯科耶村附近的库罗尼亚沙嘴国家公园海滩（Kurshskaya Spit National Park beach）。 本次评估采用国际广泛使用的OSPAR（OSPAR, 2010）方法，相关数据以表格形式呈现。该方法划定9个一级类别（塑料、橡胶、纺织品、纸张、木材、金属、玻璃、卫生与医疗用品）与110个具体细分类别，同时支持对未列入清单的垃圾进行记录。在后续监测轮次中，出现频次超过30次的未记录垃圾项将被增补至清单中。研究人员对采集到的样品进行目视检查，并按人为源垃圾与塑料垃圾进行分类。所有收集到的垃圾均在海滩上完成称重，除大型垃圾外均被运送至实验室。在实验室中，塑料垃圾经干燥后再次称重，称重结果详见表格。 表格字段说明如下： - 人为源垃圾件数：非塑料类垃圾（金属、陶瓷、玻璃等）的总件数，包含天然来源的垃圾（木材、琥珀等）； - S：监测区域的海滩面积； - 人为源垃圾密度（件/m²）：单位监测海滩面积内发现的垃圾件数； - 人为源垃圾干重（g）：干燥后人为源垃圾的总重量； - 人为源垃圾干重密度（gDw/m²）：人为源垃圾干重与监测海滩面积的比值； - 塑料垃圾干重（g）：干燥后塑料垃圾的总重量； - 塑料垃圾干重密度（gDw/m²）：塑料垃圾干重与监测海滩面积的比值； - 塑料垃圾件数：塑料垃圾的总件数； - 塑料垃圾密度（件/m²）：单位监测海滩面积内发现的塑料垃圾件数。