ABSTRACT
The increased usage of plastic for personal protective equipment (PPE), single-use plastic grocery bags, and food packaging during the COVID-19 pandemic raised concerns on microplastic pollution. This study aimed to investigate the shape, abundance, and type of microplastics in the seawater of Jakarta Bay where is most likely to be polluted by anthropogenic activities as well as being the endpoint of 13 river systems. The seawater from Tanjung Priok, Ancol Beach, and Sunda Kelapa Port, were collected and extracted using the density separation method. The microplastics were counted and categorized under a microscope and polymer of microplastics were identified using FTIR. The differences in microplastic abundance in three different stations were determined using one-way ANOVA. The results show that the Sunda Kelapa Port (2577.78 214.30 particle/m3) had the highest abundance of microplastic, which was significantly different (p<0.05) from Tanjung Priok (2022.22 203.67 particle/m3) and Ancol Beach (1822.22 101.83 particle/m3). The microplastic shapes in the Sunda Kelapa Port were dominated by fragments (36.2%), meanwhile, Tanjung Priok and Ancol Beach were dominated by fibers, comprising 37.34% and 35.44%, respectively. The results of the FTIR spectroscopy show that the most common types of microplastic polymers are Polypropylene, Polyethylene, Polystyrene, and Polyamide. © 2022 American Institute of Physics Inc.. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the increased use of plastic for personal protective equipment (PPE), single-use plastic bags, and food packaging raised significant environmental concerns. This study aimed to investigate the shape, abundance, and type of microplastics in the sediment of Jakarta Bay, specifically Tanjung Priok, Ancol Beach, and Sunda Kelapa Port. Sediment was collected using an Ekman sediment grab sampler and was extracted using the density separation method. The microplastics were counted and categorized according to the shape under a microscope. The differences in microplastic abundance in three different stations were determined using a one-way ANOVA. The polymer of microplastics was identified using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR). The results show that the abundance of the microplastics from coastal sediment was highest in the Sunda Kelapa Port (45066.67 ± 5205.13 particle/kg dry weight), which is significantly different (p<0.05) from Tanjung Priok (40533.33 ± 2444.04 particle/kg dry weight) and Ancol Beach (34666.67 ± 2444.04 particle/kg dry weight). Fragments dominated the shape of microplastic in Tanjung Priok, Ancol Beach, and Sunda Kelapa Post, comprising 36%, 40%, 38%, respectively, followed by fiber, film, and pellet. The FT-IR tests indicated that polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), and polyamide are the most prevalent microplastic polymers.