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Seasonal influence on microplastics in the sediments of a non-perennial river - Noyyal, Tamil Nadu, India

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Abstract

Microplastic (MP) is a contaminant presently causing a significant environmental risk. The present study aims to extract, measure, and classify MP in sediment samples from two seasons (monsoon and summer) in Noyyal River, South India. Microplastic was separated from sediments using the Sediment Microplastic Isolation technique. Microplastics were detected in four forms: foams, films, fragments, and fibres. Dominant polymer types during monsoon are Polystyrene (29%), Polycarbonate (13%), Nylon (13%), and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (13%). Throughout summer, Polystyrene (17%) was the prevalent polymer type, followed by Nylon (14%), Polycarbonate (11%), and Polyvinyl Chloride (9%). Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) demonstrated that MPs exhibit diverse surface morphologies, including foamy, fibrous, and granular nature. It also shows tearing and fracturing of MPs and aging, indicating substantial summer degradation. Using Polymer Hazard Index (PHI) and Pollution Load Index (PLI), MP vulnerability in sediments indicates that despite lesser PLI, the MPs pose an extreme danger threat to the environment during the summer season compared to the monsoon. The study thus provides insight into the seasonal variation of MPs and their threat in Noyyal River sediments, which will aid in formulating guidelines for the minimization of MPs in river systems.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge;

Augustine Crispin thanks the Management and Dean (CET), SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, and Directorate of Research, SRMIST, for their financial support in the form of a Doctoral Research Fellowship.

SCIF, SRMIST for providing the instrumentation facilities.

Nanotechnology Research Centre (NRC), SRMIST, for providing the research facilities.

Material Characterization Facility, Department of Physics and Nanotechnology, College of Engineering and Technology, SRMIST.

Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, SRMIST, for providing the instrumentation facilities.

Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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  1. Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chengalpattu District, Tamil Nadu, 603203, India

    Augustine Crispin & Purushothaman Parthasarathy

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  1. Augustine Crispin
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Contributions

Augustine Crispin: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data Curation, Software, Investigation, Visualization, Writing- Original draft preparation and editing.

Purushothaman Parthasarathy: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data Curation, Visualization, Resources, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing.

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Correspondence to Purushothaman Parthasarathy.

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Crispin, A., Parthasarathy, P. Seasonal influence on microplastics in the sediments of a non-perennial river - Noyyal, Tamil Nadu, India. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 97712–97722 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29393-w

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