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Microplastic prevalence in the beaches of Puducherry, India and its correlation with fishing and tourism/recreational activities
Summary
A survey of six beaches on India's Puducherry coast found microplastic concentrations averaging 72 particles per 100g of sediment, with a strong positive correlation between fishing activity and microplastic abundance, but no significant relationship with recreational tourism. The findings suggest that fishing-related plastic waste is a more important local source of beach microplastic contamination than tourism activities.
The prevalence of microplastics in the sediments of six beaches of the Puducherry coast in India was studied and its correlation to fishing activities and recreational activities was analysed. On an average, 72.03 ± 19.16 microplastic particles/100 g dry weight of sediments is found to be the microplastic abundance in the study. A Strong positive correlation (Pearson's R = 0.92, p = 0.0103) between fishing activity and microplastic abundance and a weak correlation (Pearson's R = 0.04, p = 0.932) between microplastic abundance and recreational activities is found. Majority (65.12%) of the microplastics belongs to the size bracket of 300 μm-1 mm and only 34.88% were large microplastics (>1 mm). The Polymers of the microplastics were identified as Polypropylene, HDPE, LDPE, Polystyrene, Polyurethane etc. using Raman spectroscopy. Microplastic fragments comprise 56.32% of the total particles. In terms of colour of the microplastics, white (26.92%) is the most abundant.