A Preliminary Study on Microplastic Occurrences in Surface Waters of Ousudu Lake, Pondicherry, India.

Abstract

Microplastics (MP) in both freshwater and marine ecosystem is the next issue that has been recently the fore. However, freshwaters are the potential source and pathway to transport MPs to the marine environment. There is a lack of understanding about the presence and analysis of MP in the freshwater system in India, one of the leading global plastic producers and consumers responsible for 5.6 million tonnes of waste every year. The present attempt is the first in Ousudu Lake, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, to study the MPs occurrence and examine its properties in the surface water of the largest lake and an important wetland. The concentration range of MP in Ousudu Lake was 0.0039 particles/m2. Fibre was dominant, homogenous with the size fraction of ≤100µm comprised of total MPs collected in Lake. Raman spectroscopy identified plastics with polyethylene as a homogenous component. This study indicated that the presence of MP in water might influence the environment.