Identification and characterization of microplastic in mangrove sediments of manila bay, metro manila, philippines/
Erica Jane O. Paciente, Mechaila E. Villador, Angela O. Castillo, and Francilo T. Sabete.--
- Manila: Technological University of the Philippines, 2025.
- x, 142pages: 29cm.
Bachelor's thesis
College Of Science.--
Includes bibliographic references and index.
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and abundances of MPs in three mangrove sites across NCR, namely Tanza Marine Tree Park in Navitas city, Baseco Compound in Port Area, city of Manila, and Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park in Las Piñas-Parañaque border. In methodology, sediment samples were collected using a stainless-steel probe. Each sampling site was divided into three transects, seaward (T1), in between (T2), and landward (T3), and each transect was divided into 4 sample sets by depth (0-5cm, 6-10cm, 11-15cm, and 16-20cm), where at each depth the researchers collected 100 g of sediments, for a total of 36 sediment sample sets. When it comes to sample treatment, it is first in-air dried for several days to reduce its moisture content, after drying, the sediments are sieved using a 0.125 mm stainless-steel mesh to obtain a uniform particle size distribution suitable for MP isolation. Then it is oven dried at 80°C for 12 hours to remove the remaining moisture content in the sediments. When it comes to extraction of MP, it is first soaked in 200 mL of 60% calcium chloride (CaCl2) for the density separation technique to separate MP particles from the sediments, and filtered using Whatman Grade 1 filter paper with 11μm pore size to filter the MPs from solutions. When it comes to organic digestion, it is soaked in 10% potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution to remove the organic matter present in the MPs and filtered again using filter paper to filter the specimens from the solution. For sample analysis, microscopy analysis was first performed to determine its physical characteristics such as size, shape, and color. And for the polymer type identification, the specimens were subjected to Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to determine the polymer composition of the MPs analyzed.