Microplastic presence in commercial marine sea salts: A baseline study along Tuticorin Coastal salt pan stations, Gulf of Mannar, South India

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 150; p. 110675
• Main Authors: Selvam, S., Manisha, A., Venkatramanan, S., Chung, S.Y., Paramasivam, C.R., Singaraja, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-01-2020; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Analytical methods; Anthropogenic factors; Atomic force microscopy; Baseline studies; Cellulose; Chemical analysis; Coastal zone; Environmental Monitoring; Food Contamination; Fourier transforms; Gulf of mannar; Health risks; Identification methods; India; Infrared spectroscopy; Microplastic; Microplastics; Microplastics - analysis; Microscopy; Plastics; Pollutants; Polyethylene; Polyethylenes; Polypropylene; Public health; Salt flats; Salts; Salts - chemistry; Sea salts; Seawater; Seawater - chemistry; Sodium Chloride, Dietary; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Tuticorin salt pans; Water analysis; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; μ-FT-IR; India; Microplastic; Sea salts; Gulf of mannar; Tuticorin salt pans; μ-FT-IR; India
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110675

The present baseline research infers that the salts present in the sea may contain microplastics (MPs), as the seawater is contaminated due to a number of anthropogenic activities. Herein, 25 types of sea salt samples were collected from salt pans located in the Tuticorin coastal region. The MPs present in the samples were separated and identified by various methods such as handpicking, visual classification, and micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (μ-FT-IR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The MPs that measured less than 100 μm formed the major part of the salts, accounting to 60% of the MPs among the total pollutants. The MPs that were found in abundance in the sea salts were polypropylene, followed by polyethylene, nylon, and cellulose. This study was conducted in salt pan areas and demarcated the percentage of MPs present in sea salts. Table salt, which is a prime edible commodity, was found to be contaminated with MPs through polluted seawater, which poses a threat to public health.
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•The present attempt was carried out to Preliminary study on Microplastics pollution in commercial marine sea salt along Tuticorin Coast, Gulf of Mannar, SE coast of India.•Various types of microplastics was identified, including nylon (NY) cellulose (CL), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and some microplastics or nonplastic particles, were also unidentified.•A microplastic was measuring less than 100 μm represented the major part of the particles, computing for 60% of the total microplastics.•The possible anthropogenic sources of the microplastics in the salt pans are from city people dumped plastic waste via buckle channel.