STUDY OF MICROPLASTICS CONTAMINANT IN INDONESIAN COASTAL WATERS

• Main Author: Vincent
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Kimia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/64858
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Plastic pollution harms biodiversity, ecosystems, and human health. One of the plastic pollutions that has a big impact on the coastal environment is microplastic. Microplastics are plastics with a diameter of less than 5 mm. The lack of a plastic waste management system and the many activities that depend on coastal ecosystems cause microplastic problems that can have a direct impact on water media, biota, and sediments in the coastal environment. Microplastics need to be characterized physically and chemically because they contain different types and compositions. Information regarding the analysis procedures and distribution of microplastics in Indonesian coastal waters is still minimal, so an in-depth study is needed to map the presence and handling of microplastics in Indonesian coastal waters. In this study, a literature study was conducted on microplastics found in water, biota, and sediments from Indonesian coastal waters. The things studied include the distribution of microplastics; analytical methods that include sampling, treatment, and identification of microplastics to interpret the amount, physical and chemical characteristics of microplastics. In addition, a comparative study was conducted with several studies of microplastics from coastal waters outside Indonesia. The results of the study show that the analytical method carried out in the water, sediment, and biota uses NaCl for the separation of specific gravity and digestion using KOH or H2O2. Visual identification of water, biota, and sediment samples using a microscope. Then, for water and sediment samples, chemical identification was also carried out using FTIR. The most common form of microplastic found in water, biota, and sediment samples is fiber. The types of microplastics that are often found in water and sediment samples in Indonesia are PP, PS, and PE types. The distribution of microplastics abroad from water and sediment samples has similarities in the types and forms found, namely the form of fiber and the types of PE and PP. In addition to FTIR, alternative techniques for identifying types of microplastics are carried out abroad, namely Raman spectrometry, SEM-EDS, and Py-GC- MS. This study recommends a procedure for analyzing microplastics from coastal waters that can be applied in the laboratory.