Microplastics in the high-altitude Himalayas: Assessment of microplastic contamination in freshwater lake sediments, Northwest Himalaya (India)

Kannaiyan Neelavannan; Indra Sekhar Sen; Aasif Mohmad Lone; Kalpana Gopinath

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.133354

Microplastics in the high-altitude Himalayas: Assessment of microplastic contamination in freshwater lake sediments, Northwest Himalaya (India)

Kannaiyan Neelavannan^*
, Indra Sekhar Sen
, Aasif Mohmad Lone
, Kalpana Gopinath

^*Corresponding author for this work

Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

138 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this study, we assess the magnitude, type, and sources of microplastic (MP) in lake bottom sediments collected from freshwater Anchar Lake, located in the Kashmir Valley, Northwest Himalaya. The MP identification was done on twenty-four lake bottom sediment samples under a stereo-microscope, and their polymer compositions were characterized using an Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The study reveals that 606 ± 360 (average ± SD, n = 24) numbers of MP were present per kilogram of dry sediment samples, with fibers (91%), fragments/films (8%), and pellets (1%) dominating the shape groups. Polyamide (PA, 96%) was the dominant polymer composition present in the sediment samples, followed by polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 1.4%), polystyrene (PS, 1.4%), polyvinyl chloride (PVC, 0.9%), and polypropylene (PP, 0.7%). Polymer Hazard Index (PHI) and Pollution Load Index (PLI) were used to evaluate the quality of sediments. It was noted that high PHI values (>1000) were due to the presence of PVC polymer. According to PLI values, sediments in the Anchar lake are less contaminated with MP. We conclude that MP in the Anchar Lake have a complex source derived mostly from the automobile, textile, and packaging industries.

Original language	English
Article number	133354
Journal	Chemosphere
Volume	290
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.133354
State	Published - Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
KN acknowledges the postdoctoral research support at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. The authors are thankful to the Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai, and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur for providing laboratory facilities. Indra Sen acknowledges Science Education and Research Board (SERB), Government of India, File Number SPR/2020/000120 that supported this work.

Funding Information:
KN acknowledges the postdoctoral research support at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur . The authors are thankful to the Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai, and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur for providing laboratory facilities. Indra Sen acknowledges Science Education and Research Board ( SERB ), Government of India, File Number SPR/2020/000120 that supported this work.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

Fourier Transform Infrared
Himalayan lakes
Lake bottom sediments
Microplastic pollution
Microplastic sources

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Environmental Engineering
Environmental Chemistry
General Chemistry
Pollution
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.133354

Cite this

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title = "Microplastics in the high-altitude Himalayas: Assessment of microplastic contamination in freshwater lake sediments, Northwest Himalaya (India)",

abstract = "In this study, we assess the magnitude, type, and sources of microplastic (MP) in lake bottom sediments collected from freshwater Anchar Lake, located in the Kashmir Valley, Northwest Himalaya. The MP identification was done on twenty-four lake bottom sediment samples under a stereo-microscope, and their polymer compositions were characterized using an Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The study reveals that 606 ± 360 (average ± SD, n = 24) numbers of MP were present per kilogram of dry sediment samples, with fibers (91\%), fragments/films (8\%), and pellets (1\%) dominating the shape groups. Polyamide (PA, 96\%) was the dominant polymer composition present in the sediment samples, followed by polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 1.4\%), polystyrene (PS, 1.4\%), polyvinyl chloride (PVC, 0.9\%), and polypropylene (PP, 0.7\%). Polymer Hazard Index (PHI) and Pollution Load Index (PLI) were used to evaluate the quality of sediments. It was noted that high PHI values (>1000) were due to the presence of PVC polymer. According to PLI values, sediments in the Anchar lake are less contaminated with MP. We conclude that MP in the Anchar Lake have a complex source derived mostly from the automobile, textile, and packaging industries.",

keywords = "Fourier Transform Infrared, Himalayan lakes, Lake bottom sediments, Microplastic pollution, Microplastic sources",

author = "Kannaiyan Neelavannan and Sen, \{Indra Sekhar\} and Lone, \{Aasif Mohmad\} and Kalpana Gopinath",

note = "Funding Information: KN acknowledges the postdoctoral research support at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. The authors are thankful to the Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai, and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur for providing laboratory facilities. Indra Sen acknowledges Science Education and Research Board (SERB), Government of India, File Number SPR/2020/000120 that supported this work. Funding Information: KN acknowledges the postdoctoral research support at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur . The authors are thankful to the Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai, and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur for providing laboratory facilities. Indra Sen acknowledges Science Education and Research Board ( SERB ), Government of India, File Number SPR/2020/000120 that supported this work. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Elsevier Ltd",

year = "2022",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.133354",

language = "English",

volume = "290",

journal = "Chemosphere",

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T1 - Microplastics in the high-altitude Himalayas

T2 - Assessment of microplastic contamination in freshwater lake sediments, Northwest Himalaya (India)

AU - Neelavannan, Kannaiyan

AU - Sen, Indra Sekhar

AU - Lone, Aasif Mohmad

AU - Gopinath, Kalpana

N1 - Funding Information: KN acknowledges the postdoctoral research support at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. The authors are thankful to the Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai, and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur for providing laboratory facilities. Indra Sen acknowledges Science Education and Research Board (SERB), Government of India, File Number SPR/2020/000120 that supported this work. Funding Information: KN acknowledges the postdoctoral research support at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur . The authors are thankful to the Institute for Ocean Management, Anna University, Chennai, and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur for providing laboratory facilities. Indra Sen acknowledges Science Education and Research Board ( SERB ), Government of India, File Number SPR/2020/000120 that supported this work. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Ltd

PY - 2022/3

Y1 - 2022/3

N2 - In this study, we assess the magnitude, type, and sources of microplastic (MP) in lake bottom sediments collected from freshwater Anchar Lake, located in the Kashmir Valley, Northwest Himalaya. The MP identification was done on twenty-four lake bottom sediment samples under a stereo-microscope, and their polymer compositions were characterized using an Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The study reveals that 606 ± 360 (average ± SD, n = 24) numbers of MP were present per kilogram of dry sediment samples, with fibers (91%), fragments/films (8%), and pellets (1%) dominating the shape groups. Polyamide (PA, 96%) was the dominant polymer composition present in the sediment samples, followed by polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 1.4%), polystyrene (PS, 1.4%), polyvinyl chloride (PVC, 0.9%), and polypropylene (PP, 0.7%). Polymer Hazard Index (PHI) and Pollution Load Index (PLI) were used to evaluate the quality of sediments. It was noted that high PHI values (>1000) were due to the presence of PVC polymer. According to PLI values, sediments in the Anchar lake are less contaminated with MP. We conclude that MP in the Anchar Lake have a complex source derived mostly from the automobile, textile, and packaging industries.

AB - In this study, we assess the magnitude, type, and sources of microplastic (MP) in lake bottom sediments collected from freshwater Anchar Lake, located in the Kashmir Valley, Northwest Himalaya. The MP identification was done on twenty-four lake bottom sediment samples under a stereo-microscope, and their polymer compositions were characterized using an Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The study reveals that 606 ± 360 (average ± SD, n = 24) numbers of MP were present per kilogram of dry sediment samples, with fibers (91%), fragments/films (8%), and pellets (1%) dominating the shape groups. Polyamide (PA, 96%) was the dominant polymer composition present in the sediment samples, followed by polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 1.4%), polystyrene (PS, 1.4%), polyvinyl chloride (PVC, 0.9%), and polypropylene (PP, 0.7%). Polymer Hazard Index (PHI) and Pollution Load Index (PLI) were used to evaluate the quality of sediments. It was noted that high PHI values (>1000) were due to the presence of PVC polymer. According to PLI values, sediments in the Anchar lake are less contaminated with MP. We conclude that MP in the Anchar Lake have a complex source derived mostly from the automobile, textile, and packaging industries.

KW - Fourier Transform Infrared

KW - Himalayan lakes

KW - Lake bottom sediments

KW - Microplastic pollution

KW - Microplastic sources

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85121427901

U2 - 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.133354

DO - 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.133354

M3 - Article

C2 - 34929278

AN - SCOPUS:85121427901

SN - 0045-6535

VL - 290

JO - Chemosphere

JF - Chemosphere

M1 - 133354

ER -

Microplastics in the high-altitude Himalayas: Assessment of microplastic contamination in freshwater lake sediments, Northwest Himalaya (India)

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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