Estimating solid contaminant levels in beach sands through petrographic analysis, screening evaluation, and optical imaging

Abstract

Determining the level of solid pollution in beach sands located near artificial inland water bodies in order to maintain high safety standards is a difficult and expensive task. The tests aimed at determining beach pollution caused by solid wastes through analysis of toxic and chemical concentrations, are time-consuming and usually require several days before the results are available. In addition, the maintenance of the beach area involving beach raking or grooming, and the seasonal replenishment of sand makes it difficult to realistically determine the chemical or bacterial contamination of the tested material. Solid pollutants, such as glass, caps, cans, thick foil, metal, and plastic fragments, pose a greater health risk to beachgoers. The above-mentioned pollutants, especially small ones, are hardly visible on the surface or they are buried at shallow depths. Beach garbage poses a serious threat that can lead to infections from cuts and scratches. These injuries can become infected, further jeopardizing the health and lives of beachgoers due to risks like tetanus, staphylococcus, etc. The authors presented a new petrographic method aimed at assessing the quality of sand by examining the content of solid pollutants. The obtained results allowed us to conclude that the mentioned procedure can be used for a quick quantitative estimation of the content of potentially dangerous and undesirable pollutants in beach sands. Consequently, the method implemented to determent the amount of solid pollutants in beach sands has proven to be a valuable tool for recreational facility administrators, helping them in taking necessary measures to ensure the safety of beach users. Petrographic analysis of beach sands revealed the presence of pollutants of plant origin (0.4–1.8%), plastic (0.1–0.4%), paper (0.1–0.6%), charcoal (0.1–0.5%), glass (0.1–0.4%), metals (0.1–0.4%), rust (0.1–0.3%), ash and slag (0.1–0.3%), and fossil coals (0.1–0.2%).

Keywords

• beach
• optical analysis
• petrographic analysis
• solid pollution