Microplastic Abundance and Characteristics in the Bango River, Malang, Indonesia, Based on Land Use Patterns

Land use (LU) patterns may influence the amount, distribution, and characteristics of microplastics (MPs) in the surface water; however, the association between them is unidentified. This study analyzed the abundance, shape, size, color, and polymer component distribution of MPs along the Bango River, irrigation farm, industrial drainage, and residential drainage from 23 sites in the Bango subbasin of East Java Province. The average abundance of MPs in the river, irrigation farm, industrial drainage, and residential drainage was 85.4 ± 36.3, 222.6 ± 49.6, 172.7 ± 90.4, and 134.8 ± 118.8 particles/L, respectively. In general, the MPs were mainly found in transparent color (54.7%), fragment shape (45.2%), 500–1,000 μm in size (52.1%), and composed of polyamide and polystyrene (56.5%); however, the MPs characteristics in each sampling site varied. Moreover, the result revealed a significant relationship between the type of LU, the MPs abundance, shape, and color (p-value < 0.05) but not significant with MPs size. In addition, expanding the agricultural land, residential area, and grass will significantly increase the MPs abundance with an R2 of 46%. Also, the redundancy analysis showed that the MPs characteristics (shape and color) correlate positively or negatively with the LU type. This investigation offers a vital foundation for future research on MPs ecosystem risks related to LU and data for designing efficient prevention to reduce MPs pollution in surface water.