Determination of microplastics in sediment in Kelantan and Pattani, Bay

Marine plastic pollution has arisen in the last few decades due to both an increase in consumerism and an increase in the number of plastics used in the daily production of the products that human use. In general, microplastics are classified as plastic particles that are broken into less than 5 mm in size. There are many studies have been reported in the occurrence and impacts of the microplastics in marine environments in other country but less investigation has been carried out in Malaysia and Thailand. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the microplastics presents in sediment in Kelantan and Pattani Bay. Sediment samples were collected from Sri Tujuh Beach, Tumpat and Talo Kapo Beach, Pattani Bay in between May and July 2019. Microplastics were isolated from sediment samples using wet peroxide oxidation (WPO) followed by density separation. Microplastics were sorted visually according to their shapes and colors after being examined under photographed microscope. A total of 52 pieces of microplastics were identified and the most abundant particle found in this study was threadlike shape. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy has been used to identify functional groups in the composition of microplastics. This study shows that degraded of large plastic materials to microplastics due to some factors such as weathering can impact abundance of microplastics in both places, as these locations are well known for fishing activities, industrial areas and also as tourism area.