Rubbish collected from a Lower Hutt beach during a 90-minute clean up.

Sharks may have a reputation as cold-blooded killers, but Kiwi beachgoers are more likely to be injured by litter than in an attack by the ocean's apex predators, according to a new study.

In fact, the research, by Perth's Murdoch University, has found one in five injuries people received while visiting the seaside was caused by rubbish or marine debris.

Of the more than 7800 injuries on New Zealand beaches in 2016, 595 were due to beach litter.

Comparatively, just 29 shark attacks – nine of which were fatal – have been recorded in New Zealand waters during the past 60 years.

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While punctures and cuts were the most common wounds sustained from seaside rubbish, some people were left with fractured limbs, burns, head trauma, or even blindness.

SUPPLIED / Clinton Duffy / DoC Sharks may be the apex predators of the ocean, but they injure fewer Kiwis than beach litter.

The researchers analysed injury insurance data for the study, which was published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

They found insurance claims for beach litter-related injuries totalled more than $325,000 in 2016.

Beach litter included broken glass, sharp and rusted metals, flammable and toxic materials (such as cigarette lighters), sanitary and medical waste (used syringes, condoms, tampons), dog poo and domestic animal carcasses.

SUPPLIED / Ceara Adamski Pegs and polystyrene were among items of litter collected off Browns Bay Beach on June 23.

Children and older people were more likely to be injured by beach litter than other age groups.

People aged younger than 14 received nearly a third (31 per cent) of the injuries caused by beach rubbish.

An earlier study by the researchers found 227 pieces of rubbish that could cause punctures and cuts and 153 choking hazards per 100sqm of Australasian beaches.

In Auckland alone, cleaning up beach litter cost nearly $5 million per year, according to not-for-profit Sustainable Coastlines.

Last summer, Sustainable Coastlines collected 31,000 litres of rubbish – including sharp items like broken glass – during 35 Auckland beach clean-ups.