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Microplastic in Beach Sediment of Nasi Island, Aceh Besar Regency, Indonesia
Summary
Researchers analyzed microplastic abundance, morphology, and polymer composition in beach sediments from two beaches on Nasi Island, Aceh Besar Regency, Indonesia, using dry sieve fractionation, microscopy, and FTIR spectroscopy. They found fragments, films, and fibers across both beaches, with peak abundance of 2,651 particles/kg at the finest sieve fraction (0.063 mm), and identified PETE, polystyrene, and LDPE as the dominant polymer types.
Microplastic might be a small size of plastic that is directly released into the environment or the result of larger in size of plastic degradations. The presence and effect of microplastic have been reported globally. However, the existence of microplastic trapped in beach sediment of Nasi Island is limited. This research was conducted to analyse the type of sediment, abundance and type of microplastic polymer found in beach sediments in Nasi Island, Aceh Besar Regency, Aceh Province, Indonesia. Sampling was carried out in April 2022 at Nipah Beach and Alue Riyeung Beach in Nasi Island, Aceh Besar Regency. Sediment type was analysed by dry sieve method, using a stratified sieve shaker while the observation of microplastic and its polymer were identified by microscope and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. The results showed that the types of sediment at both beaches belonged to the sand type. There were three types of microplastics found, namely fragments, films, and fibres. The highest abundance of microplastics was found in a 0.063mm filter at Nipah Beach with an amount of 2651 Particles/Kg while the lowest was found in a 0.125mm filter with an amount of 8 Particles/Kg at Alue Riyeung Beach. As the polymer types, it is found that fragment type microplastics are likely to have PETE (Polyethylene Terephthalate) polymers, film type microplastics are likely to have PS (Polystyrene) polymer types and Fibre microplastics are likely to have LDPE (Low-Density Polyethylene) polymers.