Spatiotemporal distribution of microplastics in Miri coastal area, NW Borneo: inference from a periodical observation

Anshuman Mishra; Prasanna Mohan Viswanathan; Nagarajan Ramasamy; Saravanan Panchatcharam; Chidambaram Sabarathinam

doi:10.1007/s11356-023-29582-7

Spatiotemporal distribution of microplastics in Miri coastal area, NW Borneo: inference from a periodical observation

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Oct;30(46):103225-103243. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-29582-7. Epub 2023 Sep 9.

Authors

Anshuman Mishra¹, Prasanna Mohan Viswanathan², Nagarajan Ramasamy¹, Saravanan Panchatcharam³, Chidambaram Sabarathinam⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University, Malaysia, CDT 250, 98009, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia.
² Department of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University, Malaysia, CDT 250, 98009, Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia. prasanna@curtin.edu.my.
³ Department of Geology, University of Madras (Guindy Campus), Chennai, 600025, India.
⁴ Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait City, Kuwait.

Abstract

The current study aims to investigate the spatiotemporal distribution of microplastics (MPs) in the Miri coast, targeting their occurrences, characterisation, and potential sources. For a periodical study, coastal sediments were collected from three different time intervals (monsoon, post-monsoon, and post-COVID) and subjected to stereomicroscope, ATR-FTIR, and SEM-EDX analyses. These results show a significant increase of MPs in post-COVID samples by approximately 218% and 148% comparatively with monsoon and post-monsoon samples, respectively. The highest concentration of MPs was detected near the river mouths and industrial areas where the waste discharge rate and anthropogenic activities dominate. Fibre-type MPs are the most abundant, with an average of nearly 64%, followed by fragments, films, microbeads, and foams. The most dominant polymer types were polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyester (PET). Overall, the current study shows a better understanding of MPs occurrence and potential sources in the Miri coastal area.

Keywords: Fibre; MPs; Miri coast; Polymer; Sediment.