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Spatiotemporal distribution of microplastics in the catchment of lake akkulam-veli, kerala, india

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) 2024
Reshma S R, M A Mohammed Aslam, Anish Kumar Warrier

Summary

Researchers quantified and characterised microplastics in surface water samples from the Akkulam-Veli lake basin in Kerala, India, collected across three seasons — post-monsoon, monsoon, and pre-monsoon — to assess spatiotemporal variation. Results showed pre-monsoon had the highest concentrations (5,100 particles/m3), fibres and films were dominant forms, and FTIR confirmed the presence of polypropylene and other polymers.

The study aims to quantify and characterize the microplastics pollutants in surface water samples of Akkulam-veli lake basin, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Total of 12 surface water samples were collected from the study area in seasonal basis (post-monsoon, monsoon and pre-monsoon). Microplastics were recovered from all water samples, indicating their extensive distribution in the basin. The concentration of total microplastics in post-monsoon was 1838 particles/m3 ± 91.87, monsoon season was 3375 particles/m3 ± 218.3 and in pre-monsoon season was 5100 particles/m3± 290.18. Among three seasons, pre-monsoon season shows higher number of microplastics and higher concentration was observed in Parvathiputhanar and lowest in the lake sample. Fibre, film and fragment are the major types observed in the study area. The microscopic observation revealed the colour of microplastics as white, yellow, Black, green, blue, red and transparent. FTIR spectroscopy analyses showed the presence of polypropylene (PP), Low density polyethylene (LDPE), Polyethylene (PE), Polyethylene chlorinated, Polyethylene tetraphthalate (PET) and, Poly vinyl chloride (PVC). The scanning electron microscopic (SEM-EDS) analysis revealed that the microplastics have differential surface morphology and heavy metal deposition. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/559542/document

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