Microplastics in sediments deposited by rainwater runoff in a populated center in the Peruvian Andes

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) are present in surface sediments deposited on city streets as a result of stormwater runoff. The objective of this study was to determine the abundance and characteristics of MPs in surface sediments deposited by stormwater runoff from the village of Madeán in the Peruvian Andes based on size, shape, and color. Surface sediment samples were collected in triplicate at each of the eight sample sites. The sediments were deposited in some parts of the streets of this village due to the effect of rainwater runoff. The separation of MPs from the sediment was carried out in the laboratory by the density separation method with NaCl solution. The eight sampling sites in Madeán presented 292.91 ± 149.32 (MP Items/Kg of sediment) of MPs, showing significant differences in the abundance of MPs among the different sampling sites. The predominant characteristics of the MPs were small size (SMP) (50.95%) and large size MPs (LMP) (49.05%), being fiber (60.66%) and fragmented (38.39%) in morphology, and blue (29.86%), black (25.59%), and red (23.22%) in color, respectively. The following investigation suggests that solid waste is not being adequately managed by finding the presence of MPs in the sediments that are in the street ditches.