Microplastic Abundance, Characteristics and Associated Ecological Risk Assessment in the Selected Coastal Areas of Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines

Abstract

This study aimed to provide the first description of the distribution, characteristics, and ecological risk of microplastics in water and sediment of selected coastal areas of Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines. A total of 10 coastal villages were sampled and selected on spatial variation. This study found microplastic contamination levels ranging from 50.0 to 216.67±28.9 Item/L in water and for sediment it was 233.3±57.7 to 516.67±28.9 Item/Kg. The most common types of MP shapes were Fiber, Film, Fragment, and Flakes. The dominant polymer types in this study were PS (polystyrene), PETE (polyethylene terephthalate), and polypropylene (PP). For the color of MPs black, blue, white, and transparent were the dominant colors found in this study. Large (>1.5mm) and Medium size (0.5-1.5mm) MPs were the major size found in water samples and small (<0.5mm) size was the dominant size in the sediment sample. Four pollution parameters were measured in this study. The contamination factor value indicated the samples were highly and considerably contaminated. Pollution Load Index indicated all samples as polluted (>1). Polymeric risk value indicated risk category level III and finally Pollution risk assessment value for all samples indicated high risk category. All of these four pollution parameters results in this study were shown throw a spatial distribution map using Geography and Information System (GIS). The findings of this study suggest that microplastics found in marine water and sediment are crucial in the context of MP pollution, highlighting the need for further research.

Keywords: Microplastics, Spatial Variation, Coastline, FTIR, Pollution Risk