Department of Disaster Management, Alagappa University, Karaikudi 630003, Tamil Nadu, India.
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Institute of Environmental Geosciences, Pukyong National University, Busan 608-737, South Korea.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Mar;176:113409. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113409. Epub 2022 Feb 12.
Marina beach in Chennai metropolitan city attracts numerous tourists from all around the world, and it is an important ecological habitat for many life forms. Rapid urbanisation and industrial developments have led to excessive use of plastics and increased the amount of plastic waste generated in the natural environment. This first baseline study evaluates the microplastic (MP) accumulation in beach surface sediments of Marina and Pattinapakkam beaches through FTIR, AFM and SEM analyses. Sediment samples were collected from 40 stations and different types of MP polymers were identified. On average, 459 (60.8%) and 297 (39.2%) MP particles were found in the samples from Marina and Pattinapakkam beaches, respectively. We found that polyethylene types and additives are the dominant MPs in both areas. This study provided us with new insights into the human activities and natural processes in these marine environments. To solve the problem of plastic accumulation in the marine environment, the government should first play an active role in addressing the problem of plastic waste by introducing laws to control the sources of plastic waste and the use of plastic additives.
金奈都会区的玛丽娜海滩吸引了来自世界各地的众多游客，它也是许多生命形式的重要生态栖息地。快速的城市化和工业发展导致塑料的过度使用，增加了自然环境中产生的塑料废物的数量。这项首次基线研究通过傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）、原子力显微镜（AFM）和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）分析评估了玛丽娜和帕蒂纳帕克姆海滩表面沉积物中的微塑料（MP）积累情况。从 40 个站点收集了沉积物样本，并鉴定了不同类型的 MP 聚合物。玛丽娜海滩和帕蒂纳帕克姆海滩的样本中分别平均发现了 459（60.8%）和 297（39.2%）个 MP 颗粒。我们发现，聚乙烯类型和添加剂是这两个地区的主要 MP。这项研究为我们提供了关于这些海洋环境中人类活动和自然过程的新见解。为了解决海洋环境中塑料积累的问题，政府首先应该通过引入法律来控制塑料废物的来源和塑料添加剂的使用，积极解决塑料废物问题。
