Characterization of microplastics in the water and sediment of Baram River estuary, Borneo Island

Choong WS 1 , Hadibarata T 2 , Yuniarto A 3 , Tang KHD 4 , Abdullah F 5 , Syafrudin M 6 Show all authors , Al Farraj DA 7 , Al-Mohaimeed AM 8

Affiliations 

  • 1 Environmental Engineering Program, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT 250, Miri, Malaysia
  • 2 Environmental Engineering Program, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Curtin University Malaysia, CDT 250, Miri, Malaysia. Electronic address: [email protected]
  • 3 Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Civil, Planning, and Geo-Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya 60111, Indonesia
  • 4 Environmental Science Program, Division of Science and Technology, BNU-HKBU United International College, 2000 Jintong Road, Tangjiawan, Zhuhai GD 519087, China
  • 5 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
  • 6 Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Dongguk University, Seoul 04620, Republic of Korea
  • 7 Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 22452, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia
  • 8 Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 22452, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia
Mar Pollut Bull, 2021 Nov;172:112880.
PMID: 34428625 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112880

Abstract

The Baram River is one of the largest rivers in Sarawak, where many large industries, such as plywood, sawmills, shipyards, interisland ports, and other wood-based industries are located along the river. Microplastic contamination has become a widespread and growing concern worldwide because of the small sizes of microplastics and their presence in seafood such as fish, squid, scallop, crabs, shrimp, and mussels. In this study, microplastics were found in all sampling stations. Out of the 4017 microplastics found in the water and sediment, microplastics fragment accounted for 67.8% of total microplastics, followed by fiber, film, pellet, and foam. Five microplastic polymer types were detected by ATR-FTIR, including polyethylene (PE), polyester (PET) fibers, silicon polymer, nitrile, and polystyrene (PS). The most common microplastics size range in Baram River was 0.3-1 mm, with blue as the highly abundant color.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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