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Microplastic pollution in urban Lake Phewa, Nepal: the first report on abundance and composition in surface water of lake in different seasons
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Surface water from Lake Phewa, Nepal's second-largest lake, was analyzed for microplastics across seasons in the first such study from Nepal, finding plastics present in all samples with concentrations varying seasonally. The results establish a baseline for freshwater microplastic monitoring in a South Asian developing country context and raise concerns about impacts on a lake important for tourism and local livelihoods.
Microplastics are man-made pollutants which have been detected in surface water and groundwater. Research on microplastic concentration in aquatic environment is attracting scientists from developing countries, but in Nepal no information regarding microplastic in freshwater system is available. Therefore, this study investigates the presence and abundance of microplastic in lake surface water of Phewa Lake, the second largest lake in Nepal. The average concentration of microplastic for surface water was 2.96 ± 1.83 particles/L in winter (dry) season and 1.51 ± 0.62 particles/L in rainy (wet) season. Significant difference with t = 4.687 (p < 0.01) in microplastic concentration was observed in two different seasons. Fibers (93.04% for winter and 96.69% for rainy season) were the commonly found microplastic type in lake water and transparent as the dominant color for the two seasons. Almost all the detected microplastic were found to be < 1 mm in size. Due to the small size of microplastic and unavailability of micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (μ-FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy in Nepal, polymer identification was not done. The findings from this study can provide a valuable baseline data on microplastics for the first time in Nepal's freshwater lake environment.
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Microplastic Pollution in Urban Lake Phewa, Nepal: The First Report on Abundance and Composition in Surface Water of Lake in Different Seasons
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Researchers conducted the first survey of microplastics in Lake Phewa, a major freshwater lake in Nepal, finding plastic particles in surface water across all seasons. Fiber microplastics were most abundant, consistent with laundry and textile sources. This study provides baseline data for microplastic monitoring in Nepal, where freshwater microplastic research has been largely absent.
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Researchers conducted the first microplastic survey of Phewa Lake in Nepal, finding an average of 55–122.5 microplastic items per kilogram of sediment, with fiber shapes and polypropylene polymers dominating, and highest concentrations near densely populated shorelines.
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