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An unintended challenge of microplastic pollution in the urban surface water system of Lahore, Pakistan

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Abstract

Plastics are widely considered to be a major threat particularly in the urban areas owing to extensive use of plastic products. The current study is the first investigation to highlight the microplastics (MPs) pollution from the freshwater (Ravi River) located in the predominant urban center, i.e., Lahore, Pakistan. The concentration profile was quantified from surface water (n = 19) and sediments (n = 19) collected from different drains and canals of predominant freshwater resources in Lahore, Pakistan. The highest content of MPs was observed in the sullage carrier with mean concentration of 16,150 ± 80 MPs/m3 and 40,536 ± 202 MPs/m2 in the water and sediments respectively. The lowest level was detected in the link canals with mean concentration of 190 ± 141 MPs/m3 in the water and 683 ± 479 MPs/m2 in the sediments. The proportion of large size MPs (300 μm–5 mm) was maximum in the upstream section of Ravi river, whereas fine size MPs (50–150 μm) were dominant in the downstream section. In terms of shapes, the fragments were predominant with a relative abundance of 56.1% and 83.1% followed by fibers with a relative abundance of 38.6% and 11.8% in the water and sediments respectively. The chemical composition analysis showed that most of the fibers, fragments, and beads were polyethylene while the sheets were composed of polypropylene. Nevertheless, the foams isolated from the samples were composed of polystyrene. Within 24 h, about 2.4 ± 2.4 billion microplastic pieces were estimated to be transported from a single water channel into the river. The highest discharge of MPs was estimated from the sullage carrier with about 7 billion pieces/day.

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Acknowledgments

The authors highly acknowledge Dr. Rubina Nelofer and Ms. Muafia Shafiq from the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), Lahore-Pakistan, for facilitating the FTIR analysis. We are also grateful to Mr. Fayyaz Chaudhary, S.D.O, Water and Sanitation Authority, Lahore for providing us with the required drains discharge data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

    Muhammad Irfan, Abdul Qadir, Mehvish Mumtaz & Sajid Rashid Ahmad

  2. State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control (SKJLESPC), Beijing Key Laboratory for Emerging Organic Contaminants Control (BKLEOC), School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Mehvish Mumtaz

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  1. Muhammad Irfan
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  2. Abdul Qadir
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  3. Mehvish Mumtaz
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  4. Sajid Rashid Ahmad
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Correspondence to Abdul Qadir or Mehvish Mumtaz.

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Irfan, M., Qadir, A., Mumtaz, M. et al. An unintended challenge of microplastic pollution in the urban surface water system of Lahore, Pakistan. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 16718–16730 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08114-7

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