Jaiswal Prashant Kumar, Vijayan Vrinda, Kumar Sanjeev, Kumar Rajesh, Singh Ritu
Department of Environmental Science, School of Earth Sciences, Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer, 305817, Rajasthan, India.
Department of Geology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, 226025, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Environ Pollut. 2025 Jul 1;376:126430. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2025.126430. Epub 2025 May 12.
Microplastics are persistent contaminants across all environmental matrices. However, there is a paucity of studies conducted in semi-arid aquatic environments. The present study investigated the seasonal variations in the distribution and characteristics of microplastics in water samples of Man Sagar Lake in northwestern India. The findings revealed that the average abundance of microplastics in samples was notably lower during the pre-monsoon season (42.93 ± 29.72 particles/L) compared to the post-monsoon season (70.54 ± 36.53 particles/L). A significant difference in microplastic abundance across different sampling locations was observed between the two seasons (F = 7.82, p < 0.0001). The majority of microplastics present in the samples during both seasons measured less than 500 μm in size, with fragments and fibers being the predominant shapes, and transparent being the most common-colored microplastic. The most abundant polymers detected were polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene. Microplastic contamination factor (MCf) and Pollution Load Index (PLI >1) indicated a moderate to high level of microplastic contamination across all the sampling locations in both seasons. Furthermore, the potential ecological risk index (PERI) indicated that nearly 70 % of the lake area falls under the category of very high ecological risk in both seasons. Additionally, Spearman's correlation and PCA were employed to assess the interactions of microplastics with water quality parameters and potential source identification, respectively. The study's findings could help in developing region-specific remediation and prevention strategies by identifying high-risk areas and potential sources contributing to microplastic contamination.
微塑料是存在于所有环境介质中的持久性污染物。然而，针对半干旱水生环境开展的研究较少。本研究调查了印度西北部曼萨加尔湖水样中微塑料分布和特征的季节变化。研究结果显示，与季风后季节（70.54±36.53个/升）相比，季风前季节样本中微塑料的平均丰度显著较低（42.93±29.72个/升）。在两个季节之间，不同采样地点的微塑料丰度存在显著差异（F=7.82，p<0.0001）。两个季节样本中存在的大多数微塑料尺寸小于500微米，碎片和纤维是主要形状，透明是最常见的微塑料颜色。检测到的最丰富的聚合物是聚乙烯、聚丙烯和聚苯乙烯。微塑料污染因子（MCf）和污染负荷指数（PLI>1）表明两个季节所有采样地点的微塑料污染程度为中度到高度。此外，潜在生态风险指数（PERI）表明两个季节近70%的湖区属于极高生态风险类别。此外，分别采用斯皮尔曼相关性分析和主成分分析来评估微塑料与水质参数的相互作用以及潜在来源识别。该研究结果有助于通过确定高风险区域和造成微塑料污染的潜在来源，制定针对特定区域的修复和预防策略。
