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Maritime pollution in the Indian Ocean after the MV X-Press Pearl accident
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Researchers monitored maritime pollution along the west coast of Sri Lanka following the MV X-Press Pearl container ship disaster. They found widespread contamination of beaches with low-density polyethylene plastic nurdles, with chemical analysis revealing that the pellets begin altering their composition at temperatures as low as 60 degrees Celsius. The study documents significant microplastic generation from the degrading nurdles under UV irradiation and abrasion, along with heavy metal contamination including arsenic and cadmium.
The MV X-Press Pearl marine debacle severely affected the marine environment in the Indian Ocean. The objective of this study is to monitor environmental pollution along the west coast of Sri Lanka. Beach sand samples were collected from 40 locations. Visual and microscopic observations, plastic pellets pollution index (PPI), and degradation effects of plastic nurdles were examined. Chemical and thermal characteristics were investigated using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometric analysis (ICP-MS) and Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopic analysis (FTIR) analyses, respectively. Cylindrical-shaped plastic nurdles (>0.2 cm in size) were observed in off-white (mainly), yellow, and black colours. The white colour plastic nurdles change to yellow at 240 °C and black at 300 °C. Epamulla (PPI = 1940-3364) and Sarakkuwa (PPI = 2158-3466) beaches were recognized as the most contaminated beaches during the initial sampling (i.e., after six to eight days of the explosion of the vessel). Well-rounded small plastic nurdles (i.e., after one year of the disaster) can indicate degradation effects. FTIR results confirm (i) plastic nurdles as low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and (ii) alteration of the chemical composition of nurdles at a low temperature of 60 °C. In this case, a significant amount of microplastics have been added to the environment under the influence of UV irradiation and abrasion against beach sand. In addition, the presence of heavy metals (e.g., arsenic, cadmium, lead, and copper) in swash zone sediments is a great threat to marine animals and plants. Consequently, the ingestion of microplastics and heavy metals would be increased in a wide range of marine organisms and can be bio-accumulated in humans through seafood and salt.
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Coastal pollution was assessed following the MV X-Press Pearl container ship disaster off Sri Lanka, which was described as the worst maritime accident involving chemicals and plastics and released massive quantities of plastic nurdles onto beaches. Field sampling documented extensive nurdle contamination and associated toxic element accumulation along the coastline.
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Researchers studied microplastic contamination at Sarakkuwa beach in Sri Lanka following the MV X-Press Pearl shipping disaster of May 2021, finding that 2-5 mm partially pyrolyzed LDPE fragments and plastic nurdles had penetrated up to 2 m into beach sediments. The contamination profile differed markedly from baseline samples collected before the disaster, showing persistent deep burial of spilled plastic pellets.
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