Microplastics in the Indian Ocean Easily Identified Using New Methods in Water Samples

A novel approach for extracting and identifying microplastic particles from water samples was used to study samples from the tropical Indian Ocean.

Experts have cautioned that extreme weather events, such as severe rains and cyclones, may be moving a considerable amount of plastic garbage into the sea.

Climate change is predicted to worsen extreme weather occurrences; thus, they ask for legislation to address the plastic problem.

In the higher layers of the water

(Photo : CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN/AFP via Getty Images)

Near-surface water in the tropical Indian Ocean had an average concentration of 50 microplastic particles and fibers per cubic meter of water, which is very high for the open ocean, as per ScienceDaily.

Paint particles (49%), probably from abrasion of ship painting, were the most frequent form of plastic, followed by polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with a 25% share.

PET is used to make polyester microfibers for synthetic clothes and beverage bottles, among other things.

It might get into the environment via washing garments.

Microplastic particles are also generated when PET bottles break due to mechanical stress or exposure to sunlight.

Microplastic contamination in the environment has steadily grown in recent years.

The findings suggested that numerous microplastic particles, such as polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyethylene, were broken on their trip from land-based sources to the open ocean, according to Fadi El Gareb, the study's co-first author.

As a result, organisms may consume them more readily.

A major portion of the detected plastic debris may have reached the Indian Ocean via the Sunda Strait, a strait between Sumatra and Java, making it a microplastic pollution hotspot.

A large amount of the world's plastic garbage is transferred to countries on the Indian Ocean's edge.

Every year, over five million tons of plastic trash are dumped into the ocean from China and the Indonesian archipelago due to inadequate waste management.

Also Read: Microplastics: The 'Missing Plastics' of the Ocean Uncovered by Scientists

Weather in India transported more plastic

According to research, almost 1 million tonnes of debris, including plastics, was deposited along Chennai's shoreline during the 2015 Chennai floods.

Another research found that increasing river discharge increased the microplastic concentration on Chennai's beaches by three times.

This is a pervasive tendency.

Microplastics are being carried to the beaches of Goa and Kozhikode by increasing winds and surface currents during the southwest monsoon (Calicut).

The investigators from the Chennai-based National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), Bengaluru-based NIAS, and the United Kingdom-based Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science wrote that the strong seasonality influenced by the monsoon has significantly affected the volume of plastics in the surface water, as confirmed by studies carried out in the north Indian Ocean and other regions.

India began producing plastic in the late 1950s.

They reported that consumption grew 20-fold from 0.9 metric tonnes in 1990 to 18.45 metric tonnes in 2018.

The majority of the information we have is based on assumptions or industry estimates.

The problem with microplastics is that it is not now on the agenda, at least in poor nations like India, according to Siddharth Ghanshyam Singh, program manager of Municipal Solid Waste at the Delhi-based think-tank Centre for Science and Environment.

Related article: A Research Says European Farmland May Be the World's Largest Reservoir of Microplastics