Identification and characteristic of microplastics in sediment and macrozoobenthos of upper Citarum River

Abstract

Article about the microplastic content in The Citarum River as the most critical aquatic ecosystem in West Java Province. The research was conducted in 2020, during the pandemic situation. Citarum River is the most polluted water due to anthropogenic activities, such as industries, agriculture, and domestic. Monitoring the water quality of the Citarum River to emerging pollutants is becoming an important issue, since the vital role of Citarum River in supporting the livelihood. Microplastic pollution is one of the emerging pollutants, and this study aims to characterize the microplastic particles in sediments and macrozoobenthos found in the upper Citarum River and identify the source of their pollution source. The sediment and macrozoobenthos are samples using the grab sampling method. Microplastic identification is carried out by Fenton’s oxydation method. The result shows that macrozoobenthos species are only found at the Wangisagara sampling station, indicating that the Upper Citarum River is already polluted in some sampling locations, especially downstream. Microplastic particles are found in all sediment samples with an average microplastic concentration of 15.7 particles / 100 g of wet sediment. The highest concentration of microplastics is found at the Nanjung sampling station. The potential sources of microplastic pollution in the Upper Citarum River are the textile industry activities and the accumulation of plastic waste. The types of microplastic particles identified in the Upper Citarum River are fibers and fragments with a predominantly size of 1001 - 5000 µm