Ecosphere Resilience Research Center, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda 10250, Sri Lanka.
Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Jul 1;828:154374. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154374. Epub 2022 Mar 9.
The objectives of the research was to assess the coastal pollution by plastic nurdles, pyrolitic debris, associated potential toxic elements (PTEs) concentrations and mitigatory efforts by the worst ever maritime accident of a chemical and plastic boarded container vessel; MV X-Press Pearl. Field sampling was carried out three times during May, June, and September 2021 at Sarakkuwa, Sri Lanka. Pellet pollution index (PPI) was determined to compare the degree of plastics pollution. Density separation (NaCl) followed by wet peroxide digestion for plastic separation and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic, thermo gravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetric analysis. Sand and plastics samples were digested and analyzed for PTEs (Li, Mo, Cr, Pb, and Cu), are suspect to mix during disaster. Identified debris were mostly confirmed as low-density polyethylene, epoxy resins, olefin copolymers, aromatic polyamides, natural rubber, and polyethylene terephthalate. Sulfur contamination and physical erosion were observed in nurdles received in June and September. Calculated PPIs were 'high' for Sarakkuwa beach even in September with a very high pellet pollution degree (10.24 pellets per m) compared to the control obtained from the same site in 2020 (1.6 pellets per m). Input sand for the blue treatment facility was found as the extremely contaminated with Mo and Li with 239.71 and 1.69 mg/kg respectively other than microplastics. Blue treatment facility seemed effective in physical separation of microplastics from sand, however, it is an exhausting process due to continuous receive of microplastics from the waves and excavation of sea shore.
本研究的目的是评估由塑料小球、热解碎片以及与该次史上最严重的化学品和塑料集装箱船事故相关的潜在有毒元素（PTEs）浓度引起的海岸污染；MV X-Press Pearl 号。于 2021 年 5 月、6 月和 9 月在斯里兰卡的 Sarakkuwa 进行了三次实地采样。采用颗粒污染指数（PPI）来比较塑料污染的程度。采用密度分离（NaCl），随后进行过氧化物湿法消解分离塑料，并通过傅里叶变换红外光谱、热重分析和差示扫描量热分析进行了表征。对砂和塑料样品进行消解和分析，以测定 PTEs（Li、Mo、Cr、Pb 和 Cu），这些元素在灾难期间可能会混合。鉴定出的碎片主要确认为低密度聚乙烯、环氧树脂、烯烃共聚物、芳香族聚酰胺、天然橡胶和聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯。在 6 月和 9 月收到的小球中观察到硫污染和物理侵蚀。即使在 9 月，Sarakkuwa 海滩的 PPI 也很高，与 2020 年在同一地点获得的对照值（1.6 个小球/米）相比，小球污染程度很高（10.24 个小球/米）。用于蓝色处理设施的输入砂被发现含有极高的 Mo 和 Li，分别为 239.71 和 1.69mg/kg，除此之外还有微塑料。蓝色处理设施似乎可以有效地将微塑料从砂中进行物理分离，但由于波浪不断将微塑料带入和挖掘海岸，因此这是一个耗费精力的过程。
