Analysis of the presence of microplastics in the sand of the beaches of the south coast of Peru

The purpose of this study is to determine the presence of microplastics, as well as its quantification in color, size and weight on the beaches “Pozo de Lisas” and “Montecarlo”, in the province of Ilo, which was conducted in the month of July 2019; where 10 points of the intertidal zone on the beach of “Pozo de Lisas” and 8 points of the intertidal zone on the beach “Montecarlo” were sampled. At each point we proceeded to perform the separation of plastics and microplastics (<5 mm) as well as their collection, then in the laboratory, using a PALL Life Sciences quartz filter of 3 μm pore diameter, filtration was carried out to obtain microplastics of between 1 mm and 3 μm, for subsequent weighing. Finally, it was obtained that in “Pozo de Lisas” the approximate amount of microplastics (<5 mm) is 19,692 mg/cm³, and in “Montecarlo” it is 11,358 mg/cm³, likewi-se, the predominant colors in both study areas are blue, orange, white, green and gray. Our results provided useful information to evaluate the environmental risks posed by microplastics in southern Peru, and the possible environmental impact they may cause to marine ecology.