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Contaminants and their ecological risk assessment in beach sediments and water along the Maharashtra coast of India: A comprehensive approach using microplastics, heavy metal(loid)s, pharmaceuticals, personal care products and plasticisers
Summary
Researchers conducted a comprehensive survey of multiple contaminant types along India's Maharashtra coast, including microplastics, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, and plasticizers in both water and sediment. They found widespread contamination with microplastics present at all 17 sampling stations, alongside concerning levels of other pollutants. The study highlights how coastal communities face exposure to a cocktail of emerging contaminants, with microplastics potentially acting as carriers for other harmful substances.
Emerging contaminants and their pervasive presence in freshwater ecosystems have been widely documented, but less is known about their prevalence and the harm they cause in marine ecosystems , particularly in developing countries. This study provides data on the prevalence and risk posed by microplastics , plasticisers , pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), and heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) along the Maharashtra coast of India. The sediment and coastal water samples were collected from 17 sampling stations, processed, and subjected to FTIR-ATR, ICP-MS, SEM-EDX, LC-MS/MS, and GC–MS for further analysis. Higher MPs abundance, combined with the pollution load index, indicates that the northern zone is a high-impact zone with pollution concerns. Plasticisers in extracted MPs and HMs adsorption on MPs surface from surrounding waters reveal their roles as a source and vector for contaminants, respectively. The mean concentration of metoprolol (53.7–306 ng L −1 ), tramadol (16.6–198 ng L −1 ), venlafaxine (24.6–234 ng L −1 ), and triclosan (211–433 ng L −1 ) in Maharashtra's coastal waters were several folds higher than in other water systems, raising major health concerns. The hazard quotient (HQ) scores revealed that >70 % of study sites pose a high to medium (1 > HQ > 0.1) ecological risk to fish, crustaceans and algae, indicating serious concern. Fish and crustaceans (35.3 % each) show a higher level of risk than algae (29.5 %). Metoprolol and venlafaxine could represent greater ecological risks than tramadol. Similarly, HQ suggests that bisphenol A has larger ecological risks than bisphenol S along the Maharashtra coast. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first in-depth investigation into emerging pollutants in Indian coastal regions. This information is crucial for better policy formulation and coastal management in India in general, and Maharashtra in particular. • The northern zone of the Maharashtra coast is identified as a MPs hotspot. • Cu and Ni levels in coastal waters exceed permissible levels. • MPs function as a source and a vector for contaminants in coastal water. • Metoprolol, tramadol, venlafaxine and bisphenols are common in coastal water. • PPCPs and HMs pose higher risk to fish and crustaceans than the algae.
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