Spatiotemporal distribution of microplastic debris in the surface beach sediment of the southeastern coast of bangladesh

Coastal beaches in Bangladesh are subject to growing microplastic (MP) pollution which is one of the most serious, global, environmental threats at present. This research covered a large study area of about 240 kilometers along the Bangladeshi coast, including 7 beaches, from Kumira to Teknaf in the southeastern part of the country, and also inter-seasonal analysis between monsoon and winter for spatio-temporal analysis. MPs were characterized based on their abundance, polymer type, shape, size and color to understand their dynamics. 340 particles of MPs were extracted from the surface beach, sand samples through the density separation method, and identification of polymer type and morphological shape was carried out using an ATR-FTIR spectrophotometer, SEM and stereomicroscope. The results suggest statistically significant seasonal (p value=0.001) and spatial (p value=0.004) differences among the sampling sites. Also, the abundance and polymer diversity were significantly higher (p value ¿0.05) in winter than during monsoon. Touristic and commercial beaches, like Kumira, Patenga, Kolatoli and Inani, showed high level of MP pollution, while non-touristic beaches, like Shamlapur and Teknaf, displayed lower levels. The average concentration and weight of sampled MPs were 242.86 particles/kg dw and 1.39 gm/kg dw respectively. Polyethylene (PP) (28.8 Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/544132/document