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Occurrence of Microplastics in Surface Sediments of Beaches in Lagos, Nigeria
Summary
Microplastics were found in beach sediments at all four sampled sites in Lagos State, Nigeria, with fragments dominating and polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene identified. The results provide baseline data for West Africa's most populous city and highlight the need for better waste management in rapidly urbanizing coastal regions.
This study investigated the occurrence and abundance of microplastics in surface sediments from five beaches in Lagos State, Nigeria. The beaches are Alpha, Oniru, Eleko and Lekki. Microplastics were taken from the sediments by floatation method. The number of microplastics in 50 g of dry sediment were counted with a photo microscope and results were as follows: Eleko (170 ± 21 items), Lekki (141 ± 36 items), Alpha (133 ± 16 items), and Oniru (121 ± 38 items). Fragments dominated among the microplastics found in the beaches while three polymers; polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS) were identified using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). This study serves as baseline for further investigations on the occurrence of microplastics in the Nigerian coastal environment.