Excessive micro-plastic content found in sea water in north Kerala

Research article points to unscientific fishing and poor waste management

With excessive use of plastic equipment for fishing and poor waste management in urban areas, are we destroying the marine ecosystem along the coastline? A research article written by V. Anu Pavithran of Thalassery says the presence of micro plastic particles in seawater along the north Kerala coast is alarming. Ms. Pavithran had done her research in 2018 and 2019 and had collected samples from specific locations in north Kerala, including Payyambalam, Muzhappilangadu, and Thalassery in Kannur district, the Union Territory of Mahe, and Chombala in Kozhikode district, as part of her work. All the sampled locations are near active fishery zones and harbours and are predominantly urban. They were deliberately chosen to assess if human activities contributed to the presence of micro plastics in seawater. The analysis of the samples showed the presence of micro plastic fibres ranging from 0.29 millimetres to 2 millimetres in them. They were of five different kinds of polymer compositions — polypropylene (PP), polybutadiene (BR), polyamide (PA), polyethylene (PE), and polyethylene-co-vinyl acetate (PEVA).