Despite Indonesia being considered as second highest source of marine plastic debris in the world, few studies have been conducted on plastic debris in Indonesia, particularly microplastics. By using a simple device to simultaneously grade floating microplastics, we investigated microplastic contamination in the ecosystem of small islands in Bintan Regency, Riau Island Province, Indonesia. The average number of floating microplastics from 11 beach stations around Bintan Island was 122.8 ± 67.8 pieces per station, which corresponds to 0.45 pieces per m3 and represents a low-medium microplastic pollution level compared to the levels of other marine environments worldwide. Polymer identification using Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) Spectroscopy successfully identified Polyethylene (PE) (17.3 ± 8.3%), Low Density PE (17.6 ± 5.5%), Oxidized LDPE (<0.1%), Polypropylene (PP) (54 ± 13%), PP Atactic (<0.4%), PP isotactic (<0.2%) and Polystyrene (PS) (10.4 ± 9.1%) from different forms and shapes of microplastics i.e., fragments (50.9 ± 4.9%), fibers (26.2 ± 3%), granule (13.1 ± 3.8%) and films (9.8 ± 5.1%). We suggest that the generation of these microplastics was likely due to physicochemical processes, including biological degradation in this tropical ecosystem. Environmental implication of microplastics in this area increases the problems associated with ingestion, bioaccumulation and biomagnification across trophic levels and co-pollutants absorbed onto microplastics.
The paper provides new insights into marine environments and human activities and suggests plastic waste should be controlled through laws that regulate waste sources and plastic additives in order to solve the problem of plastic accumulation in the oceans.
The paper strengthens the evidence that microplastics are present in the studied biota, suggesting that they are transferred between trophic levels through the interconnected food chain/web. The presence of micro plastics in fish guts highlights the need for further research on processing interventions for reducing microplastic contamination.
PPE (face masks and gloves) were surveyed at six Indian beaches. There were 496 PPE counted with an average density of 1.08 × 10−3 PPE m−2. Previous studies found similar PPE density. Face masks accounted for 98.39% of all PPE recorded, while gloves accounted for only 1.61%. As a result of the increase in vaccination[…]
The research seeks to depict and reduce marine plastic pollution in India. A GIS map has been created to show plastic input from different river basins. In order to address the challenges of marine litter in India, a guiding model has been developed. According to the predictive model, India produces 536 thousand tons of municipal[…]
Plastic research, policies, waste management, socioeconomics, challenges, and opportunities are discussed. Marine plastic studies have focused on a few locations, providing information on distribution and interactions with organisms. In addition to scientific investigation, enforcement, improvisation, and, if necessary, framing new policies, integrated technologies to manage plastic waste are essential.