Poluição por resíduos sólidos em dois ecossistemas costeiros do Ceará, Brasil.

Abstract

Coastal ecosystems are environments rich in biodiversity and morphological features, providing several services to humans, such as habitation, recreational opportunities and food sources. Despite their importance, these regions have been suffering from anthropogenic actions that deteriorate their biotic and abiotic characteristics, such as pollution from solid wastes. The state of Ceará is rich in coastal ecosystems, of which we can highlight the sandy beaches and the tide pools that occur along the entire coast. These environments, because they are easily accessible and are routinely close to urban centers, are vulnerable to pollution by solid wastes. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate this type of pollution in a sandy beach located in the city of Fortaleza and an intertidal reef, where tide pools are formed, in the city of Caucaia, in order to identify the state of pollution, the spatial distribution and typologies of waste, the relationship with local precipitation, and the presence of foreign wastes. Monthly solid waste collections were carried out in five equidistant points on Sabiaguaba beach and in three tide pools of Iparana. A total of 2913 and 563 solid wastes were collected on Sabiaguaba beach and in the tide pools of Iparana, respectively, totaling densities of 0.13 and 0.09 items/m². The plastic typology was the most abundant, representing 74.91% and 84.30% of all items collected. The residues were homogeneously distributed throughout the two ecosystems. A correlation was observed between the average density of wastes and the average monthly precipitation for both ecosystems. Sabiaguaba beach was also polluted by international debris, of which 79.55% was plastic and 52.27% was manufactured in China. These results show the vulnerability of the coastal environments of Ceará, besides serving as a subsidy for the development of environmental education actions and as a tool for better coastal management.