CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, 403004, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, Uttar Pradesh, India.
CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, 403004, India.
Environ Pollut. 2021 Nov 1;288:117665. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117665. Epub 2021 Jul 5.
The versatile use of various synthetic polymers, including plastics, generates a large volume of non-degradable waste, which is eventually responsible for forming microplastics (MPs) in aquatic environments. The present study describes the significant spatial and seasonal variation on the abundance of MPs and their physiochemical nature along the Mandovi-Zuari estuarine system of Goa, west coast of India. During the wet season (September), the average abundance of MPs was found relatively higher in water (0.107 particles/m) and sediment (7314 particles/kg) than those found in the dry season (April) (0.099 particles/m in water and 4873 particles/kg in sediment). During the wet season, heavy rain and excessive riverine freshwater influx carry more terrestrial plastic debris in the estuarine system which causes higher averages MPs density in surface water and sediment. <300 μm sized particles and black colored MPs were predominant equally in water and sediment during both seasons. MPs of different shapes like fragments, fibres, films and beads accounted for most collected samples. The Micro-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (μ-FTIR) based compositional analysis identified approximately 33 types of polymers, of which polyacrylamide (PAM), polyacetylene, polyamide (PA), polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polyimide (PI) were abundant. Fragmentation of larger plastic particles due to mismanaged treated and untreated STPs and washing machine effluents are the primary sources of these MPs in the estuarine system. Moreover, these estuaries also receive a variety of domestic, industrial and other wastes from local cities, ports, and fishing jetties. Thus the present study enlightens the current distribution of MPs and their sources in the Mandovi-Zuari estuarine system and thus provides very useful information to the stakeholder and concerned departments for initiating the mitigation measures.
各种合成聚合物（包括塑料）的广泛应用会产生大量不可降解的废物，而这些废物最终会在水生环境中形成微塑料（MPs）。本研究描述了印度西海岸果阿的曼多维-祖阿里河口系统中 MPs 的丰度及其理化性质的显著空间和季节性变化。在雨季（9 月），水中（0.107 个/毫升）和沉积物（7314 个/千克）中的 MPs 平均丰度相对较高，而在旱季（4 月）时则较低（水中为 0.099 个/毫升，沉积物中为 4873 个/千克）。在雨季，暴雨和过多的河流淡水流入会将更多的陆地塑料碎片带入河口系统，导致地表水和沉积物中的 MPs 密度更高。在两个季节中，粒径 <300μm 的颗粒和黑色 MPs 在水和沉积物中都同样占主导地位。不同形状的 MPs，如碎片、纤维、薄膜和珠子，占了大部分采集到的样本。基于微傅里叶变换红外光谱（μ-FTIR）的组成分析鉴定出大约 33 种聚合物，其中聚丙烯酰胺（PAM）、聚乙炔、聚酰胺（PA）、聚乙烯吡咯烷酮（PVP）、聚氯乙烯（PVC）和聚酰亚胺（PI）较为丰富。由于管理不善的处理和未处理的 STP 以及洗衣机废水，较大塑料颗粒的破碎是这些 MPs 在河口系统中的主要来源。此外，这些河口还接收来自当地城市、港口和渔港的各种家庭、工业和其他废物。因此，本研究揭示了曼多维-祖阿里河口系统中 MPs 的当前分布及其来源，为利益相关者和有关部门提供了非常有用的信息，以启动缓解措施。
