Surabaya River is one of the lower tributary of the Brantas, which is included as the top 20 plastic polluted rivers worldwide. The main function of Surabaya River is for raw water source for Surabaya City. Besides, this river is used for domestic and industrial waste discharges, and for irrigation. This study aimed to investigate the distribution of microplastics (MPs/MP) and its characteristics in three stratified depths (surface, middle, and bottom) of the river. This study was conducted in eight sampling sites, which were located in the Lower Brantas and the Surabaya Rivers. The MP abundance in the surface, middle, and bottom of the river ranged 1.47–43.11; 0.76–12.56; and 1.43–34.63 particles/m3, respectively. The highest average of MP abundance was 21.16 particles/m3 at the lower end of the river. The MP particles tend to be mainly distributed in the surface than in the other depth levels. The MP particles in each depth were generally dominated by film shaped large MP of 1–5 mm size, and transparent in color. Three main polymer types of the MPs were low density polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene.
This paper characterizes the fungal and bacterial colonizers of 5 types of plastic films (High-Density Polyethylene, Low-Density Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Polystyrene, and Polyethylene Terephthalate) throughout a 242-day incubation in the south-eastern Mediterranean and relates them to the chemical changes observed on the surface of the samples via ATR-FTIR. Neither bacterial nor fungal community structures were related[…]
This paper provides insights into the sustainable alternatives that can replace conventional plastic mulches, such as biodegradable mulches made from natural fibers and biopolymers. The microscopic and FTIR analyses conducted during the study showed the degradation of the fibers from the mulches during the exposure time to a certain extent. The nonwoven mulches provide higher[…]
This paper investigates the degradation of biodegradable polybutylene adipate terephthalate/polylactic acid (PBAT/PLA) and traditional polyethylene (PE) plastic under two typical abiotic conditions: ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and mechanical abrasion (MA) for up to nine months. The quantitative analysis of the degradation products was carried out using membrane filtration and total organic carbon determination (MF-TOCD). The results[…]
This paper identifies technological innovation, policy formulation, advocacy and sensitization, and bioremediation as some of the approaches that are currently used for the mitigation of plastic pollution in Nigeria. This chapter also highlights the need to encourage, enhance, and disseminate scientific research on mitigating the harmful effects of plastic pollution in Nigeria. It concluded with[…]
This review provides insights into the sources of microplastics, the ecotoxicity of microplastics, and the impact microplastics have on aquatic and marine life, management, and bioremediation of microplastics. Policies and strategies adopted by the government to combat microplastic pollution are also discussed in this review. Microplastics tend to accumulate in many aquatic systems, contaminate them,[…]