Understanding the Extent of Microplastic Pollution in Penang’s River: A Baseline Study on Abundance and Distribution of Microplastic and Water Quality Parameters

Abstract

Microplastics are particles that can be found in various environments including aquatic soil and air. Presently, a lack of research exists concerning microplastic investigation in the northern peninsular of Malaysia. The objective of this study is to investigate the presence of microplastics in Pinang River and Kerian River and to correlate the microplastics presence with several in situ parameters. A water sample was taken, and the parameters measured were temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), conductivity (CDC) and turbidity (TUR). This study served as a baseline setting for subsequent microplastics research at Pinang River and Kerian River. The microplastics abundance in Kerian River was higher than microplastics abundance in Pinang River. Additionally, Microplastics fragment shaped dominates the other shape of microplastics. Polycarbonate and Nylon also were identified through ATR-FTIR analysis.