Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 172, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112880
Keywords
Microplastic; Baram River estuary; Sediment; River water
Funding
- King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia [RSP-2021/190]
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Microplastic contamination is a widespread issue in the Baram River, with fragments being the most common type of microplastic found. The study also identified five different types of microplastic polymers in the river, indicating a significant presence of microplastics in the water and sediment.
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.
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