Department of Geology, Periyar University PG Extension Centre, Dharmapuri 636701, Tamil Nadu, India.
Department of Geology, University of Madras, Guindy campus, Chennai 600025, Tamil Nadu, India.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2020 Sep;158:111421. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111421. Epub 2020 Jul 7.
Microplastics are causing serious environmental threats worldwide. To evaluate the current state of microplastics pollution, 28 sediment samples were examined for microplastics and plastic debris contamination along Silver Beach, Southern India. Visual identification followed by FT-IR spectroscopy was used to estimate the overall distribution and characterization of plastic debris. The results reveal that white-colored (44%) and irregularly-shaped (82%) plastics are prevalent in the study area. Moreover, the dominant polymer in the study area is polyvinyl chloride (79%) followed by polyethylene (14%) and nylon (7%). Based on size fractions, mesoplastics are widely distributed in the beach sediments (65%), followed by microplastics (18%) and macroplastics (17%). The regional sources of plastic debris are tourism and fishing activities followed by storm water runoff through the Gadilam river and wave-induced deposition through high tides. Strict policy measures need to be implemented in recreational beaches like Silver beach to reduce plastic pollution.
微塑料正在对全球环境造成严重威胁。为了评估微塑料污染的现状，对印度南部银滩的 28 个沉积物样本进行了微塑料和塑料碎片污染检测。采用可见识别法和傅里叶变换红外光谱法（FT-IR spectroscopy）来估算塑料碎片的整体分布和特征。结果表明，研究区域中白色（44%）和不规则形状（82%）的塑料较为常见。此外，研究区域中主要的聚合物是聚氯乙烯（79%），其次是聚乙烯（14%）和尼龙（7%）。根据尺寸分数，中塑料在海滩沉积物中广泛分布（65%），其次是微塑料（18%）和大塑料（17%）。塑料碎片的区域来源是旅游和渔业活动，其次是加迪拉姆河的雨水径流和高潮时的波浪沉积。像银滩这样的休闲海滩需要实施严格的政策措施来减少塑料污染。
