Quantification and characterization of microplastics ingested by mangrove oysters across West Africa.

Microplastic ingestion by marine organisms presents a challenge to both ecosystem functioning and human health. We characterized microplastic abundance, shape, size, and polymer types ingested by the West African mangrove oyster, Crassostrea tulipa (Lamarck, 1819) sampled from estuaries and lagoons from the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Benin, and Nigeria using optical microscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) techniques. A total of 780 microplastics were isolated in the whole tissues of the 250 oysters (n = 50 oysters per country).

Ecotoxicological and health risks associated with sediment-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in peri-urban closed and open coastal lagoons.

Coastal urbanisation has ramifications for the sustainable development of developing nations. There are often unquantified ecological and health risks associated with urbanisation. Sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analysed in surface sediment from three peri-urban coastal lagoons in southern Ghana.

Effects of coastal protection structures in controlling erosion and livelihoods.

The fiscal and social cost of ameliorating the impact of coastal erosion resulting from climate change is an increasing burden for coastal states, and in developing nations the physical interventions implemented may present a double agony - increasing debt levels and potentially obstructing livelihoods in the rural coasts. Against this background, this study was conducted to explore the impact of hard-engineered coastal protection on coastal vulnerability and community livelihoods in Ghana using a combination of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), geographic information system tools and social survey. Shoreline change analysis by the application of the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) with aerial photographs from 2005 to 2022 reveals an average statistical rate of change of -1 m/year in shoreline erosion of the beaches.