Studies on microplastic contamination in seagrass beds at Spermonde Archipelago of Makassar Strait, Indonesia

Abstract

There is growing awareness and concern on microplastics pollution in marine environments. Seagrasses are among the most productive shallow water ecosystems, serving a diverse assemblage of fish and invertebrates. Sediment and benthic animal samples collected from small islands at Spermonde archipelago confirmed the presence of microplastics with different levels of contamination. The occurrence of microplastics for up to 28.29% and 25% of contamination level in sediments and benthic animals, respectively, clearly indicated an alarming state of the microplastics pollution in rich and productive shallow water seagrass ecosystem of tropical seas. Moreover, all positively contaminated microplastics of benthic animals are for human consumption and therefore pose threats for microplastics transfers which may facilitate pathways for a wide spectrum of organic pollutants entering the food web and affecting human health.