Occurrence of COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) litters along the eastern coast of Palawan Island, Philippines.

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused worldwide health constraints. This study was conducted to establish a baseline monitoring survey to describe the distribution of PPE litters during the COVID-19 pandemic in the province of Palawan, Philippines. A total of 386 COVID-19-related PPE items were present in 83 % of coastal sampling sites with over a cumulative area of 48,200 m, with a density of 8 × 10 items m.

Plastic litter pollution along sandy beaches in Puerto Princesa, Palawan Island, Philippines.

Marine plastic litter pollution has become an emerging threat to the Philippines, especially in Palawan. This study was conducted to investigate the macroplastic litter and determine the clean-coast index (CCI) of the residential and non-residential sites on the coasts of Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Plastic litters were sampled from 21 coastal barangays by delineating a 50-m-long transect line with three 4 m × 4 m quadrats.