Beach litter or beach debris are solid wastes

discarded intentionally by human beings or

unintentionally either through land runoff or by

waves. Marine litter is anthropogenic waste that

has been released in water bodies or on land. Beach

litter can become part of marine litter and vice versa

due to water, wind and wave action

Anilkumar, P S

Jeyabaskaran, R

Kaladharan, P

CMFRI Digital Repository

Mar. Fish. Infor. Serv., T & E Ser., No. 232, 201736Plastic reinforced fiberglass- an addition to beach litter*P. Kaladharan, R. Jeyabaskaran and P. S. AnilkumarICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Kochi*e-mail : kaladharanep@gmail.comBeach litter or beach debris are solid wastesdiscarded intentionally by human beings orunintentionally either through land runoff or bywaves.  Marine litter is anthropogenic waste thathas been released in water bodies or on land.  Beachlitter can become part of marine litter and vice versadue to water, wind and wave action. Among thebeach litters 40-43% are formed by plastic litterswhich never get biodegraded but are progressivelyfragmented into tiny pieces called microplastics.These microplastics are even found inside the gutof filter feeding animals.  Marine mammals andturtles are also killed by plastic litter every year.Nylon ropes, strings,  net pieces, plastic carry bags,pet bottles, sachets and wrappers of oil and fooditems, ice cream containers, plastic spoons,  glassbottles, parts of toys, CDs, chargers of mobilephones, electric bulbs, styrene plates and cups,insulating  foam pieces, thermocole  floats  etc arethe commonly seen litter items on our beaches.Recently sheets of fiberglass coated with epoxypolyester resin detached from a salvaged fiber canoepiled up in Arthungal beach, Alappuzha District ofKerala was observed.  A few more fibreglass canoesto be salvaged were also seen  at this beach.Fibreglass crafts are coated with glass fibersreinforced with plastic matrix most often EpoxyPolyester Resin or Vinylester through thermosetting.They are preferred over wooden crafts due to higherdurability, added strength and protection fromcorrosion and biofouling.As per the Kerala Marine Fishery Statistics-2013,there were 25542 motorised fishing vessels in Kerala.Of this, several Fibre crafts fitted with outboardengines are registered with the Department ofFisheries, Government of Kerala.   Salvaging of thesecondemned crafts occur on beaches itself as thereare no exclusive salvaging yards in India. One suchcanoe can shed 25- 30 kg of fiberglass debris. Overa period of time these crafts can generatetremendous quantities of fibreglass with plasticmatrix which will be deposited in the beaches ofKerala.  Plastic reinforced fibreglass is consideredas human carcinogen if inhaled.  If proper disposalmechanisms are not observed, these materials canreach levels above 5-15 mg/m3 and becomehazardous causing irritation to eyes, skin, nose andthroat. From the beaches these tiny particles ofglass fibre coated with plastic resin can also enterthe marine food web which is undesirable.Whale shark recorded from PonnaniA whale shark Rhincodon typus measuring 4.5 m in total length and weighing around 1.5 tons wasobserved in the Ponnani Fishing Harbour on 3rd November 2016. The fish had no injuries and was reportedlyaccidentally entangled in a floating drift gill net operated off Ponnani. The dead shark was later buriedon the beach itself.Reported by: P.Ansar, Calicut Research Centre of ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute.

Plastic reinforced fiberglass- an addition to beach litter

http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/12657/1/MFIS%20232_18.pdf

Plastic reinforced fiberglass- an addition to beach litter

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