Evaluation of Microplastic Pollution in Water of Shatt Al-Arab River, Southern of Iraq

Due to the increasing use of plastics in various areas of life and the difficulty of their degradation in the environment, they have negative effects on the aquatic environment and health. Surface water samples were collected from four selected sites along the Shatt al-Arab River monthly for the period from October 2023 to March 2024 to investigate the microplastic contaminant. Water samples were passed through sieves with mesh sizes of 2000, 500, 125, and 63 microns. Microscopic fragments were collected from each sieve for further analysis. Microscopic examination confirmed the presence of microplastics at all sampling sites, which included strands, fibers, irregular fragments, and threads—these forms were prevalent across all detected samples. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis detected carbon spectra in several water samples: at the Qarmat Ali site (sizes 500, 125, and 63 microns), the Bradyia site (sizes 500 and 63 microns), and the Mahila and Al-Muqal sites (sizes 500 and 125 microns). However, no carbon element was detected at the Bradyia site for the 125-micron and 63-micron fractions. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis revealed the presence of functional groups such as C–H, C=C, C=O, C–C, C–Cl, Fe–O, Si–O, and Al–O in microplastics retained in the 500, 125, and 63-micron size fractions. Additionally, CHNOS elemental analysis showed that carbon concentrations in the water samples were very low.