TY - JOUR
T1 - Microplastics in equatorial coasts
T2 - Pollution hotspots and spatiotemporal variations associated with tropical monsoons
AU - Jong, Mui-Choo
AU - Tong, Xuneng
AU - Li, Junnan
AU - Xu, Zichen
AU - Chng, Shannae Hui Qing
AU - He, Yiliang
AU - Gin, Karina Yew-Hoong
PY - 2022/2/15
Y1 - 2022/2/15
N2 - Microplastics (MP < 5 mm) are eroding oceanic health and coastal development at a planetary scale. Coastlines in Southeast Asia (SEA) are plagued with plastic litters, but how MP are dispersed within SEA region is poorly understood, which can vary dramatically under the tropical climate. We systematically quantified MP in equatorial Singapore, to assess how prevailing Monsoons and other factors impact MP distributions in beaches and mangroves. Data highlighted spatial preponderance differed broadly by seasons (p < 0.05) and were strongly modulated by wind speediness (p < 0.05; r = 0.6–0.7) and promoted transboundary migrations of MP. Conversely, an inverse relationship existed between sediment MP and rainfall (r = −0.54) possibly due to re-entrainment of surficial MP. Elevated concentrations in mangrove's compartments (p < 0.05) suggest effective repository hotspots. Coastal MP consisted assorted morphologies and commonest polymers including 34% polypropylene (PP), 26% polyethelene (PE), and 23% Low Density PE. Further comparisons revealed coastal MP in Singapore accelerated by two orders of magnitude since 2014, implying cumulative pollution which is not reversible. We synthesized the first seasonal coastal MP report in SEA which is useful for source apportionment, prediction study, and mitigation planning under tropical circumstances. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.
AB - Microplastics (MP < 5 mm) are eroding oceanic health and coastal development at a planetary scale. Coastlines in Southeast Asia (SEA) are plagued with plastic litters, but how MP are dispersed within SEA region is poorly understood, which can vary dramatically under the tropical climate. We systematically quantified MP in equatorial Singapore, to assess how prevailing Monsoons and other factors impact MP distributions in beaches and mangroves. Data highlighted spatial preponderance differed broadly by seasons (p < 0.05) and were strongly modulated by wind speediness (p < 0.05; r = 0.6–0.7) and promoted transboundary migrations of MP. Conversely, an inverse relationship existed between sediment MP and rainfall (r = −0.54) possibly due to re-entrainment of surficial MP. Elevated concentrations in mangrove's compartments (p < 0.05) suggest effective repository hotspots. Coastal MP consisted assorted morphologies and commonest polymers including 34% polypropylene (PP), 26% polyethelene (PE), and 23% Low Density PE. Further comparisons revealed coastal MP in Singapore accelerated by two orders of magnitude since 2014, implying cumulative pollution which is not reversible. We synthesized the first seasonal coastal MP report in SEA which is useful for source apportionment, prediction study, and mitigation planning under tropical circumstances. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.
KW - Coastal
KW - Mangrove
KW - Microplastics
KW - Monsoon
KW - Tropical
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118476848&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/pubmetrics.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85118476848&origin=recordpage
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127626
DO - 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127626
M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal
C2 - 34741937
SN - 0304-3894
VL - 424
JO - Journal of Hazardous Materials
JF - Journal of Hazardous Materials
M1 - 127626
ER -
