Microplastics in sediment from Skudai and Tebrau river, Malaysia: a preliminary study

¹ Department of Water and Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bharu, Malaysia
² Department of Mathematical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bharu, Malaysia

Abstract

Plastic debris floating on surface water has now become an environmental issues concerning its abundance and fate. Generally, plastic debris that are fragmented into less than 5 mm in size is known as microplastics (MP). To date, discovery on the occurrence and impacts of MP in marine environments have been reported by many studies. However, less investigation has been carried out in freshwater environments. The occurrence of MP in Malaysia is also unknown. Thus, the present study has characterised the abundance of MP between Skudai and Tebrau River. The quantification of MP levels in these channels are pertinent since both rivers are listed among polluted rivers in Malaysia with high amount of rubbish. Surface sediments were collected with a box corer and MP were extracted via density separation. The inspection of particles was carried out under microscope and were categorized based on shape, colour, and size. Preliminary results showed that the concentration of MP was much higher in Tebrau than of Skudai River. The study demonstrates that the abundance of MPs in both urban rivers may possibly be affected by weathering breakdown of large plastic materials since these locations are well-known for fishing and industrial areas.