Microplastic pollution of Patos Lagoon, south of Brazil

Abstract

The presence of plastic microparticles (microplastics) is gradually more common in water bodies. These particles are present in products consumed daily by society for at least 50 years, as well as the wear and natural degradation of plastic residues inadequately discarded. Most of these particles find their way to the oceans and are ingested by marine animals, which may cause premature death and even accumulation in the food chain. It is extremely important to detect contamination before damages to the local ecosystem are irreversible, being this crucial information to assist implementation of policies and regulations against plastic litter and to raise awareness of the population. This work aims to verify, for the first time in the literature, the presence of microplastics in Patos Lagoon (Laranjal beach), a very important lagoon in the south of Brazil and the largest in South America, through low-cost procedures to filter water from the place to retain particles and, later, to know the composition of some particles by using Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The results show that, in 400 L of filtered water, approximately 0.0846 g of microplastics were found, showing the pollution of the place by, at least, microparticles of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), which resembles the vast majority, and polytetrafluoroethylene (PFTE).