Qualitative Evaluation of Factors Inducing Environmental Pollution of the Sandy Beaches of Jeju Island Using Styrene Oligomers

Abstract

Objectives : Plastic pollution is a very important environmental issue in Korea as well as abroad. The objective of this study is to evaluate the internal and external factors that cause pollution of the coastal environment of Jeju Island using styrene oligomers (SOs) originated from polystyrene (PS) plastic.Methods : In order to achieve the above objective, this study is conducted to quantitatively measure the concentration of 12 individual SOs chemicals, through gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) analyzing seawater and beach sand samples around sandy beaches in Jeju Island. This study evaluates the degree of environmental pollution according to internal or external factors of the sandy beach by using the physicochemical characteristic that SOs species are adsorbed on the surface of sand particles.Results and Discussion : The average concentration of SOs in the beach sand of Jeju Island ranges from a minimum of 9.80 ng/g to a maximum of 13.62 ng/g, and the average concentration of SOs in seawater is relatively low with a constant 0.05 to 0.11 µg/L. Although the concentration distribution of SOs species differs considerably depending on the sample collected, the concentration of SOs decreases in the order of styrene trimers (7 isomers) > styrene dimers (4 isomers) > styrene monomer. As a result of monitoring, the concentration of SOs at the sandy beaches of Jeju Island is much higher in the beach sand than in the seawater. This result means that the major beaches of Jeju Island can be polluted mainly by internal factors (e.g. population density, number of travelers according to population movement, and so on), because SOs species are adsorbed on the surface of the sand particles and their mobility is limited.Conclusions : This study shows that the sandy beaches of Jeju Island are mainly polluted by internal factors. It is thought that the pollution degree of the sandy beaches is the highest in the order of Gwakji Beach < Samyang Beach, Hamdeok Beach, Pyoseon Beach < Ihoteho Beach, Sagye Beach < Seopjikoji Beach, Gimnyeong Beach, and Hyeopjae Beach. This study is expected to contribute to the evaluation of the causes of plastic pollution in the coastal environment of Jeju Island.