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Risk assessment of microplastic exposure: A case study near a refinery factory at the central coast of Vietnam
Summary
Researchers assessed microplastic contamination on a beach near a refinery on the central coast of Vietnam and found plastic particles in all collected samples, averaging about 1,582 particles per kilogram of sediment. Fibers and fragments were the dominant shapes, with polyethylene terephthalate being the most common polymer type. The study indicates that industrial coastal areas face elevated microplastic pollution levels that may pose environmental and health risks.
The goal of this study was to identify the presence of microplastics on the beach near a refinery in the central coast of Vietnam. In this study, 11 sampling sites were selected within a length of 300 m of the beach. The results showed that microplastics were presented in all collected samples with an average concentration of 1582 ± 660 MPs/kg. Fibers were the predominant shape of microplastics found in the samples, which accounted for 57.11 %, while the rest were classified as fragments. The average size of microplastics varied greatly around 83.1 ± 74.3 μm with the vast majority having a size smaller than 50 μm (41.84 %). A total of 11 polymers of microplastics were detected from collected samples, Polyethylene Terephthalate was the main polymer with 46.43 %. The pollution load index of microplastics was 3.15 showing that refinery activities could expose microplastic to the environment.