Microplastics Characteristics in The Seawater of Gresik Waters, East Java, Indonesia

Abstract Microplastics are a ubiquitous contaminant found in marine environments worldwide, and it has been well-recognized that microplastics affect humans and marine ecosystems. The present work addresses microplastics’ quantification and morphological description (form, color, and size) in the seawater of Gresik waters, East Java. A Niskin water sampler was used to collect the seawater samples from the surface water at six stations and brought to the Laboratory of Marine Sciences, where the identification of microplastics was conducted visually, and the microplastics were counted using a microscope. The present study revealed that Stations 3 and 4, which are the utmost from the estuary, showed the highest density of microplastics, i.e., 88 and 95 particles·L −1 . The microplastic characteristics were fragments, fibers, pellets, films, foams, and. Most of the microplastics were in the form of fibers and fragments. The microplastic found has varied colors, and the three highest microplastic densities were blue, black, and transparent, respectively, with a lower number of red, white, brown, yellow, green, and purple. The range of microplastic size particles was 10.19 (pellet)–6250.34 (fiber) μm. The microplastic enters the coastal area of Gresik through several ways, such as wastewater being discharged by industry, runoff from the Bengawan Solo River, and other anthropogenic pollution caused by anthropogenic activities on marine and land and the water movement in the sea.