Contamination and characterization of microplastics in different sediments of the inner Gulf of Thailand

Nowadays, microplastics are an environmental issue in the world. There are many researches show that the aquatic environment is contaminated by microplastics. However, the contamination status and characterization of microplastics in surface sediment of the inner Gulf of Thailand have not many studies. The present study was investigated microplastics in order to analyze the contamination and characterization of microplastics in different sediments of the inner Gulf of Thailand. Result showed that surface sediment was contaminated by microplastics throughout the inner Gulf of Thailand. The average number of total microplastic concentration in surface sediments of the inner Gulf of Thailand was 2534±1907 pieces/kg SDW and the average mass of total microplastic concentration was 58±60 mg/kg SDW. The small size of microplastic (300-100 μm) was widely found in surface sediment and the most frequent microplastic shape observed was a fragment (56%). Black, brown and white were dominant among the different colors of microplastics. As a result, the microplastic concentrations in surface sediment of the inner Gulf of Thailand were relative high contaminations and high small size composition, which were suggested that the impact of the microplastics currently in the sediments might be potentially risk to the benthic community and potentially increase the magnitude into the pelagic community. Moreover, the result of this study provided scientific information on microplastic pollution to develop a plastic waste management and environmental policies in Thailand.