Quantitative assessment of microplastic in sandy beaches of Gujarat state, India. (August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rabari, Vasantkumar; Patel, Krupal; Patel, Heris; Trivedi, Jigneshkumar
• Is Part Of: Marine pollution bulletin. Volume 181(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-08
• Subjects: Beach sediments -- Fragmentation -- Marine pollution -- West coast -- Plastic pollution -- Microplastic contamination; L Litre -- mL Millilitre -- t Tonne -- h Hours -- min Minutes -- mm Millimeter -- m Meter -- kg Kilogram -- MP Microplastic; Marine pollution -- Periodicals; Marine Biology -- Periodicals; Water Pollution -- Periodicals; Mer -- Pollution -- Périodiques; Publications périodiques; Pollution des mers; Lutte antipollution; Electronic journals; 363.7394
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113925
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0025-326X

Abstract

Abstract: The present study was carried out to quantify microplastic prevalence among 20 sandy beaches on the Gujarat coast. Beaches were categorised into three different classes, viz. low-impacted sites, moderately impacted sites, and highly impacted sites based on anthropogenic pressure. Microplastic (MP) (≤ 5 mm) contamination on the beaches varied with an average of 1.4 MPs/kg to 26 MPs/kg sediment. Sutrapada site-1 and Porbandar showed the highest and lowest mean abundance of microplastics, respectively, among 20 selected beaches. Out of the total assessed microplastics, threads were the maximum (89.98%), followed by the films (4.75%), fragments (3.36%) and foam (1.89%). In terms of colour and size, different microplastics were recorded in this study. The chemical composition of microplastics was identified by ATR-FTIR as polypropylene (47.5%), polyethylene (26%), and polystyrene (25%). Tourism and fishing activities are the possible sources of higher microplastic contamination at highly impacted sites. Highlights: Microplastic pollution has been reported in sediments of 20 sandy beaches of Gujarat, India. A total of 1158 microplastics of mainly three types were detected. Mean abundance of microplastics ranged from 1.4 to 26 MPs/kg. Chemical nature of MPs was identified as polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene. Fisheries and tourism were the main causes of MPs prevalence on Gujarat coast.