Spatiotemporal distribution of microplastic debris in the surface beach sediment of the southeastern coast of Bangladesh
Jarin Tasnim, Md. Kawser Ahmed, Kazi Belayet Hossain, M. Saiful Islam
Abstract
This study undertakes a spatiotemporal analysis of microplastic pollution in surface beach sediments, covering 7 coastal beaches in Bangladesh and two seasons-monsoon and winter. The concentration of microplastics extracted from the surface beach sediment is 242.86 particles/kg dw. The results showed both significant seasonal (p value = 0.001) and spatial (p value = 0.004) variation. The abundance and polymer types were significantly higher (57 %) in winter than in the monsoon season (43 %). Touristic and commercial beaches showed higher levels of microplastic pollution than the non-touristic beaches. Polyethylene (28.8 %) and Polypropylene (27.6 %) were the most abundant polymer. The most dominant coloration of microplastics was white (42.6 %). The majority of the microplastics were fibers (33.5 %). Smallest particles measuring <1 mm constituted nearly half of the total microplastics load (48.5 %). This baseline data can be useful in terms of coastal zone management for the southeastern coastal beaches of Bangladesh.