IDENTIFICATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF MICROPLASTICS IN SEDIMENT FROM PATENGA SEA BEACH, CHATTOGRAM, BANGLADESH

Abstract

The prevalence of microplastics along the coastal habitats has become a global concern owing to the increased input of plastic debris from multiple sources. This study was the first effort on the identification and characterization of microplastics, the abundance, spatial distribution, and seasonal variation of microplastics from Patenga Sea Beach sediments. A total of 72 surface sediment samples were collected from four sampling locations (Abir point and Patenga beach denoted as tourist area, Bay terminal and Charpara denoted as non-tourist area) in four seasons (Spring, Summer, Rainy, Winter) from January 2022 to December 2022. This study revealed that the microplastics abundance ranged from 4.44 to 11.81 items/kg, where Abir point had the highest abundance (11.81±0.87 items/kg) and Bay terminal had the lowest (4.44±0.98 items/kg). This study also showed that tourist area had higher mean abundance (11.39 items/kg) over the non-tourist area (4.06 items/kg). The findings also revealed that microplastics abundance in spring was the highest and significantly varied from winter season. Physiochemical characteristics were also measured in this study and found that fragments (53.74%) and filaments (40.92%) were the dominant types among five categories of microplastics types. Seven different colors of microplastics were observed, of which transparent (59.14%) were predominant rather than colored (40.86%), with irregular (51.94%) and elongated (40.28%) shapes were found to be predominant among six different shapes of microplastics. The majority (71.48%) of the microplastics measured were 300 to < 500 μm in size rather than other four categories of size classes. This research provided primary information on microplastic contamination in the marine environment that policymakers might utilize to develop effective management strategies