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Gupta P, Saha M, Suneel V, Rathore C, Ray D, Naik A. The consequences of reduced anthropogenic activities during the COVID-19 pandemic on microplastic abundance in a tropical estuarine region: Goa, India. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 912:169041. [PMID: 38056653 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Revised: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
Plastic pollution is pervasive, as it has infiltrated every corner of the planet and the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a depletion in the production, consumption, and disposal of plastics. To find out the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, a comparative assessment of microplastics (MPs) observed before and after the pandemic was evaluated in surface water and sediment from the major rivers of Goa, i.e. Mandovi and Zuari. To comprehend the relative difference in the abundance, characteristics, and source of MPs, samples were examined in both the dry and wet seasons. We found a sharp decrease in the concentration of MPs immediately after the isolated pandemic. During the dry and wet seasons, two to seven times less concentration of MPs was recorded for water and sediments after the pandemic period compared to the prior pandemic. MPs size, >300 μm were relatively abundant after the pandemic period in contrast to the prior pandemic (<300 μm sized MPs were more). Polyamide (PA), polyvinyl alcohol (PVAL), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were the dominant polymers after the pandemic whereas earlier the dominant polymers were polyacetylene, polyacrylamide (PAM), and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP). The risk assessment of MPs in sediments (Polymer load index) was higher prior to the pandemic. The water quality parameters also indicated an improvement in the water quality during the pandemic. The present study clearly exhibited that due to the reduction of overall anthropogenic activities during the COVID-19 pandemic period, a sharp decline of plastic waste and MP abundance in the coastal water body in Goa, west coast of India was found. This study unveils the controlling factors (such as total solid waste generation, plastic waste, tourism activities, and the effect of monsoon) which influence the abundance and distribution of macro- and microplastics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Priyansha Gupta
- CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403004, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Mahua Saha
- CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403004, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India.
| | - V Suneel
- CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403004, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Chayanika Rathore
- CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403004, India; Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad 201002, India
| | - Durbar Ray
- CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403004, India
| | - Akshata Naik
- CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403004, India
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Praved PH, Neethu KV, Nandan SB, Sankar ND, Aravind EH, Sebastian S, Marigoudar SR, Sharma KV. Evaluation of microplastic pollution and risk assessment in a tropical monsoonal estuary, with special emphasis on contamination in jellyfish. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2024; 343:123158. [PMID: 38123117 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.123158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
Estuaries, which serve as vital links between land and coastal ecosystems, play a significant part in facilitating the transfer of plastic waste from the land to the ocean. In this research, we examined the prevalence, characteristics, and ecological risks of microplastics (MPs) in the extensively urbanized Cochin Estuarine System (CES), India. Additionally, it represents one of the initial evidence-based examinations of MPs ingestion by jellyfish in Indian waters, focusing on Acromitus flagellatus, Blackfordia virginica, and Pleurobrachia pileus species. The abundance of MPs found in the surface water of the Cochin Estuarine System (CES) varied between 14.44 ± 9 to 30 ± 15.94 MP/m3, with an average of 21.6 ± 11 MP/m3. In both surface waters and jellyfish from the Cochin Estuarine System (CES), fibers were the most prevalent type of MPs, with polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polyamide (PA) being the most common polymer varieties. To evaluate the current levels of MPs and their effect on the CES, the Pollution Load Index (PLI), Potential Ecological Risk Index (PERI), and Polymeric Risk Index (H) were utilized. The high PLIestuary values (20.33), high Hestuary values (234.02), and extreme PERIestuary value (1646.06) indicate that the CES is facing an extreme ecological risk. Among the 280 jellyfish individuals examined, 118 (42.14%) were recognized to contain MPs with an average of 1.54 ± 2.68 MPs/individual. Pearson bivariate analysis revealed a significant correlation between the jellyfish bell size and number of plastics per individual. Comparison between jellyfish species revealed, the majority (66%) of the MPs identified in jellyfish were from A. flagellatus and 44 among the 50 jellyfish examined (88%) had MPs. These findings suggest that A. flagellatus may be a potential sink for MPs and may be utilized to be a bioindicator for monitoring MPs contamination in estuarine systems, aiding in future plastic pollution mitigation efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Hari Praved
- Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology & Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, 682016, Kerala, India.
| | - K V Neethu
- Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology & Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, 682016, Kerala, India.
| | - S Bijoy Nandan
- Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology & Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, 682016, Kerala, India.
| | - N Deepak Sankar
- Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology & Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, 682016, Kerala, India.
| | - E H Aravind
- Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology & Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, 682016, Kerala, India.
| | - Sruthy Sebastian
- Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology & Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, 682016, Kerala, India.
| | - S R Marigoudar
- National Centre for Coastal Research, NIOT Campus, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India, Pallikaranai, Chennai, 600100, India.
| | - K V Sharma
- National Centre for Coastal Research, NIOT Campus, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India, Pallikaranai, Chennai, 600100, India.
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Huang C, Qiu Y, Fang Y, Chen G, Xu X, Xie J, Hu Z, Zheng K, He F. Visual analysis of the prevention and control measures of COVID-19 in Chinese ports. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023; 30:80432-80441. [PMID: 37300729 PMCID: PMC10257174 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-27925-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
In 2022, COVID-19 solutions in China have entered a normal stage, and the solutions imported from ports have been transformed from emergency prevention and control measures to investigative long-term prevention and control measures. Therefore, it is necessary to study solutions for COVID-19 at border ports. In this study, 170 research papers related to the prevention and control measures of COVID-19 at ports from 2020 to September 2022 were retrieved from Wanfang database, HowNet database, Wip database, and WoS core collection. Citespace 6.1.R2 software was used to research institutions visualize and analyze researchers and keywords to explore their research hotspots and trends. After analysis, the overall volume of documents issued in the past 3 years was stable. The major contributors are scientific research teams such as the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine Sciences (Han Hui et al.) and Beijing Customs (Sun Xiaodong et al.), with less cross-agency cooperation. The top five high-frequency keywords with cumulative frequency are as follows: COVID-19 (29 times), epidemic prevention and control (29 times), ports (28 times), health quarantine (16 times), and risk assessment (16 times). The research hotspots in the field of prevention and control measures for COVID-19 at ports are constantly changing with the progress of epidemic prevention and control. Cooperation between research institutions needs to be strengthened urgently. The research hotspots are the imported epidemic prevention and control, risk assessment, port health quarantine, and the normalized epidemic prevention and control mechanism, which is the trend of research and needs further exploration in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunyan Huang
- Department of Scientific Research Education and Information Management, Fujian Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Fuzhou, 350012, China
| | | | - Yiliang Fang
- Fuzhou International Travel Health Center, Fuzhou, 350001, China
| | - Guangmin Chen
- The practice base on the School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350012, China
- Fujian Provincial Center for Disease Control & Prevention, Fuzhou, 350012, China
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Research, Fuzhou, 350012, China
| | - Xinying Xu
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350122, China
- Digital Tumor Data Research Center, Fuzhou, 350122, China
| | - Jianfeng Xie
- AIDS/STD Prevention and Treatment Institute, Fujian Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Fuzhou, 350012, China
| | - Zhijian Hu
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350122, China
- Digital Tumor Data Research Center, Fuzhou, 350122, China
| | - Kuicheng Zheng
- The practice base on the School of Public Health, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350012, China
| | - Fei He
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350122, China.
- Digital Tumor Data Research Center, Fuzhou, 350122, China.
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Devereux R, Ayati B, Westhead EK, Jayaratne R, Newport D. Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on microplastic abundance along the River Thames. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2023; 189:114763. [PMID: 36842283 PMCID: PMC9951046 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.114763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Revised: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
In April 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic changed human behaviour worldwide, creating an increased demand for plastic, especially single-use plastic in the form of personal protective equipment. The pandemic also provided a unique situation for plastic pollution studies, especially microplastic studies. This study looks at the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and three national lockdowns on microplastic abundance at five sites along the river Thames, UK, compared to pre-Covid-19 levels. This study took place from May 2019-May 2021, with 3-L water samples collected monthly from each site starting at Teddington and ending at Southend-on-Sea. A total of 4480 pieces, the majority of fibres (82.1 %), were counted using light microscopy. Lockdown 2 (November 2020) had the highest average microplastic total (27.1 L-1). A total of 691 pieces were identified via Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Polyvinyl chloride (36.19 %) made up the most microplastics identified. This study documents changes in microplastic abundance before, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, an unprecedented event, as well as documenting microplastic abundance along the river Thames from 2019 to 2021.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ria Devereux
- Sustainability Research Institute (SRI), University of East London, Knowledge Dock, Docklands Campus, 4-6 University Way, London E16 2RD, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
| | - Bamdad Ayati
- Sustainability Research Institute (SRI), University of East London, Knowledge Dock, Docklands Campus, 4-6 University Way, London E16 2RD, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Elizabeth Kebede Westhead
- Department of Bioscience, University of East London, Water Lane, London E15 4LZ, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Ravindra Jayaratne
- Department of Engineering & Construction, University of East London, Docklands Campus, 4-6 University Way, London E16 2RD, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
| | - Darryl Newport
- Suffolk Sustainability Research Institute (SSI), University of Suffolk, Waterfront Building, Ipswich, Suffolk IP4 1QJ, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
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