Microplastic Pollution in Urban Lake Phewa, Nepal: The First Report on Abundance and Composition in Surface Water of Lake in Different Seasons
Abstract
Abstract Microplastics are man-made pollutants which have been detected in surface water and groundwater. Research on microplastic concentration in aquatic environment is an emerging field for developing countries. Nepal despite having rich water resources no information regarding microplastic in freshwater system is available. Therefore, this study investigate the presence and abundance of microplastic in lake surface water of Phewa Lake, the second largest lake of the country. A total of 16 sampling locations were selected for surface water sample to cover the area of 5.72 km2. The average concentration of microplastic for surface water was 2.96±1.83 particles/L for winter season and 1.51 ±0.62 particles/L for rainy season. Significance difference in microplastic concentration were observed in two different seasons. Fibers was the commonly found microplastic type in lake water and transparent as the dominant color for the two seasons. Almost all the detected microplastic were found to be <1 mm in size. Polymer identification was not possible due to small size of microplastic and unavailability of advanced technique. Phewa Lake, the heart of Pokhara is an important tourist destination so proper waste disposal plan can only maintain the lake’s beauty from further deterioration.
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