Birżebbuġa’s Pretty Bay had the highest concentration of microplastics of five popular beaches analysed recently, Environment and Resources Authority chairman Victor Axiaq has confirmed.
The quantity of small pieces of polluting plastics found in the southern bay was up to 15 times higher than the lowest levels recorded at Għajn Tuffieħa.
In a Talking Point published today on Times of Malta, Prof. Axiaq details the findings of a two-year monitoring project at five local sandy beaches: Mellieħa’s Għadira Bay, Għajn Tuffieħa and Golden Bay, St George’s Bay in St Julian’s and Pretty Bay in Birżebbuġa between 2015 and 2016.
Land-based human activities were believed to be the most likely major contributors to the levels of microplastics on local sandy beaches. The frequency of use of the bays, coupled with commercial and industrial activity in the surrounding areas, were among the leading causes.
Pretty Bay and St George’s Bay, the two sites closest to urban and industrial activities, had the highest levels of microplastics.
Pretty Bay had the most paint fragments in its sand, which were linked to ship repair activities nearby. Microplastics from production pellets were also abundant at Għajn Tuffieħa in 2016.