Microplastic contamination in groundwater on a volcanic Jeju Island of Korea

Abstract

Microplastic (MPs) contamination in groundwater has received massive attention since plastic waste has been released directly into the environment. This study investigates MPs contamination in groundwater on the Jeju volcanic Island, Korea. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to identify MPs in groundwater from volcanic islands. A total of 21 sites were sampled for groundwater wells and springs in July and September (2021). Sampling was performed without cross-contamination through quality assurance and quality control. The results showed that MPs abundance ranged from 0.006 to 0.192 particles/L in groundwater samples. Additionally, MPs were detected in deep groundwater wells where the groundwater level was 143 m below ground surface. Eight MPs polymer types, including polypropylene, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyamide, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, and polyurethane, were detected using Micro-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (μ-FT-IR). Most of the detected MPs size ranged from 20 to 100 μm, accounting for 95% of the total. Fragments and fiber shaped MPs were detected, with the majority of them being fragmented in groundwater samples. The concentrations of MPs and major ions in groundwater showed a positive correlation. A negative correlation was observed between MPs concentration and topographic elevation (r = -0.59, p = 0.01). The source of MPs contamination is most likely attributed to agricultural activities, such as plastic mulching and greenhouses, which account for most of the land use in the study area. In this study, MPs entered the aquifer through the soil at the surface and seeped through cracks in fractured rock on basalt with sealed groundwater wells. This study takes 500 L of samples to prevent sample bias, reveal plastic contamination in groundwater, and indicating the characteristics and sources of contaminated plastics.

Keywords: Groundwater; Jeju; Land use; Microplastic contamination; Microplastics; Volcanic island.