Beached seabirds as plastic biomonitors in Brazil from the Beach Monitoring Project of the Santos Basin (PMP-BS).

Bioindicator species are useful to monitor wildlife exposure to plastic pollution, and responses to plastic leakage and policy interventions. Here we explore the biomonitoring potential of different seabird and shorebirds species across six years of monitoring in Brazil. Using the necropsy stranding database of the Beach Monitoring Project of the Santos Basin (PMP-BS), we evaluated i) the frequency of birds-plastic interactions in Brazil; ii) whether plastic interactions have changed through time and in different coastal regions; and iii) potential bioindicators for monitoring the exposure of seabirds to plastic in the nearshore South Atlantic Ocean. We found 37 species that had ingested plastic, including ten new records, found that the rates of tube-nosed seabirds increased through time, and suggested two potential species. We discuss the potential for biomonitoring marine pollution in the South Atlantic Ocean using PMP-BS, providing a scheme for a better plastic pollution monitoring in Brazil.

Alternative construction and demolition (C&D) waste characterization method proposal / Proposta de método alternativo para identificação da composição de resíduos de construção civil (RCC)

ABSTRACT Construction and demolition waste generally represents the majority of solid waste generated in Brazilian cities, and characterization of this waste stream is still incipient. Therefore, to support managers in the process in the diagnostic phase, this study consisted in a proposal qualitative characterization method in field, that use of construction and demolition (C&D) waste generation indicators. For this, a survey which have been divided in two stages: quantitative characterization based on a three-indicator-analysis of C&D waste generation and qualitative characterization consists of an image analysis procedure on C&D waste samples. The qualitative characterization method has proved to be efficient for samples with high-volume parts. However, this method is limited to represent characterizations that contain residues which might cover the other C&D waste types, for example, plastic sheeting, cardboard and packaging. This method of image analysis is suitable for use in early diagnostics, which require fast results about C&D waste composition.

RESUMO Os resíduos da construção civil podem representar a maior parte dos resíduos sólidos gerados nos municípios, e o conhecimento de sua composição ainda é limitado. Para apoiar gestores na fase de diagnóstico desses resíduos, este estudo propõe um método de campo que forneça a sua caracterização qualitativa apoiado em indicadores de geração. Para tanto, a pesquisa foi dividida em duas etapas: caracterização quantitativa baseada na análise de três indicadores de geração de resíduos da construção civil; e caracterização qualitativa, que consistiu em um procedimento de análise de imagem de amostras de resíduos da construção civil. O método de caracterização qualitativa provou ser eficiente para amostras volumosas. No entanto, esse método foi considerado limitado para representar caracterizações que contêm resíduos que podem abranger outros tipos de resíduos de construção civil, a exemplo de plásticos, papelão e embalagens. O método de análise de imagem mostrou-se adequado para uso em diagnósticos preliminares, os quais exigem resultados rápidos sobre a composição dos resíduos da construção civil.