Maldives records highest microplastic pollution

Micro plastics are pieces of plastic waste that measure less than 5 millimetres long, and due to their often microscopic size are considered invisible water pollutants. Small pieces of plastic can break down over time from plastic bottles, textiles and clothing, and remain in the world's oceans.

Marine scientists from Flinders University recorded the levels of plastic pollution in sand across 22 sites off the coast of Naifaru, the most populous island in Lhaviyani Atoll, to determine how much microplastic is present around the island. Microplastic distribution was found to be ubiquitous in the marine environment, with the results published in the Science of the Total Environment journal.

Flinders University Honours student and lead researcher Toby Patti says micro plastics are highly concentrated in waters around Naifaru.

"The concentration of micro plastics found on Naifaru in the Maldives (55-1127.5 microplastics/kg) was greater than those previously found on a highly populated site at Tamil Nadu, India (3-611 microplastics/kg), and was a similar concentration to that found on inhabited and uninhabited islands elsewhere in the Maldives (197-822 particles/kg)."

The high levels of harmful plastics were likely both transported by ocean currents from neighbouring countries in the Indian Ocean like India as well as from Maldivian land reclamation policies, poor sewerage & wastewater systems adding to an unsustainable environmental situation.

Professor Karen Burke Da Silva says notorious 'rubbish islands' used as landfill sites are also contributing to the high concentration of microplastic found around the island.

"Current waste management practices in the Maldives cannot keep up with population growth and the pace of development. The small island nation encounters several challenges regarding waste management systems and has seen a 58% increase of waste generated per capita on local islands in the last decade," says Professor Burke Da Silva.

"Without a significant increase in waste reduction and rapid improvements in waste man,agement, small island communities will continue to generate high levels of microplastic pollution in marine environments, with potential to negatively impact the health of the ecosystem, marine organisms, and local island communities."

Flinders University researchers are now looking at the stomach content of coral reef fish to see if they have bellies full of microplastics in a follow up study.