Microplastic abundance in Surabaya mangrove areas during the wet season

Abstract

Plastic waste pollution is the most dominant problem in various parts of the world, and it has increased since 2020. Degraded plastic waste can accumulate in the environment, especially the mangrove ecosystem, which is a sediment trapper, allowing for the accumulation of various materials. This study was done during the wet season in December 2021 at Wonorejo mangrove areas, Surabaya, Indonesia. The aims of study were to observe the abundance of microplastic that accumulates not only in waters during high tide but also in sediments during low tide. The results will provide information about environmental pollution of the Surabaya mangrove ecosystem. Four types of microplastics were observed in water and sediment samples under the stereo microscope, i.e. fragments, fibers, films, and granules. The average abundance of microplastics in waters from five stations was 8×106 particles km-2, while in sediments (three stations) was counted as 1.5×109 particles km-2 on average. The Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) analysis was done resulting in the characteristic of microplastics. From both waters and sediments, contamination of microplastics consisted of Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS), and Polyethylene (PE).