Abstract
This article presents data on the occurrence and distribution of phthalate esters and metals associated with microplastics (MPs) (1–5 mm) collected from four beaches in the tropical Atlantic ecosystems, Nigeria, Gulf of Guinea. Information on microplastics extraction by density flotation with saturated NaCl and polymer identification with attenuated total reflectance infra-red spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) is also provided. Analysis of six phthalate esters (PAEs) (dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), dibutyl phthalate (DnBP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), di (ethyl hexyl) phthalate (DEHP), and di n-octyl phthalate (DnOP)) associated with the microplastics by performed using Gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC–MS). Metals including Ag, Al, As, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Si, Sr, Ti, Tl, V, and Zn were analysed by inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectrometry (ICP–OES). The data present the separation of microplastics from sediment, extraction with cyclohexane/ethyl acetate (1:1, v/v) and 10% HNO3 for phthalate esters and metals, respectively, and the determination of target analytes concentrations. The compositional distributions of MPs and levels of carcinogenic and toxic metals and phthalate esters are presented. The dataset could be used for the evaluation of ecological risk associated with PAEs in the marine ecosystems.
Highlights
This article presents data on the occurrence and distribution of phthalate esters and metals associated with microplastics (MPs) (1–5 mm) collected from four beaches in the tropical Atlantic ecosystems, Nigeria, Gulf of Guinea
Microplastics were separated from sediment and analysed for phthalate esters (Dimethyl phthalate (DMP), Diethyl phthalate (DEP), Dibutyl phthalate (DnBP), Butyl benzyl phthalate (BBZP), di phthalate (DEHP), and Di n-octyl phthalate (DnOP)) and metals (Ag, Al, As, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Si, Sr, Ti, Tl, V and Zn)
Microplastics were separated from sediment by density flotation with saturated sodium chloride solution and extracted with cyclohexane/ethyl acetate (1:1, v/v) by vortex mixing and sonicating for 20 min, concentration to 1 mL and analysis of extracts for phthalate esters was carried out using GC–MS
Summary
Four designated sampling sites along the Nigerian coastal zone were selected for microplastic survey. The quantity of microplastics according to polymeric and plastic types across the sampling locations are showed in Tables 3 and 4, respectively. There were variations across microplastics types and the different beaches sampled. The distribution and concentration of major toxic metals is shown in Tables 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19 and 20 for Oniru, Elegushi, Atican and Eleko beaches, respectively.
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