Microplastic Pollution in the Sediment of the Sangu River, Bangladesh: Insights on Abundance, Types and Physicochemical Features

Abstract

Bangladesh is one of the countries that can be vulnerable to microplastic pollution. In Bangladesh, very few research has been done on microplastics. This study is the first to detect, describe and quantify the abundance of microplastics in the sediment of Sangu River, Chattogram. For this study, sampling was done during the month of February to June in 2023. According to this study, the two sampling sites of Sangu River, Chandanaish (20.74 ± 1.87 items/kg) and Juidhondi (20.26 ± 1.69 items/kg) had comparable microplastics abundances. More terrestrial plastic debris enters the riverine environment during the rainy season due to heavy rainfall and large riverine freshwater input, which raises the average concentration of microplastics in surface water and sediment. In this study, the types, colors, forms and sizes were also measured. Microplastics were found to be of six different forms, with filaments (40%) and fragments (37%) being the most dominant. Microplastics were found in six distinct colors, with black (44%) and red (20%) being the most common. Five distinct size of microplastics were identified, with the 300 μm to < 500 μm (51%) size class being the most prevalent. Six distinct shapes of microplastics were analyzed, with irregular (42%) and elongated (38%) shapes being the most prevalent. In order for the relevant papers relevant departments and stakeholders to begin mitigation actions, the detection and measurement provides an indicator of the extent of microplastic contamination in the research region.