Spatiotemporal microplastic occurrence study of Harike wetland, A Ramsar wetland of India

Abstract Ramsar wetlands are one of the least investigated areas for microplastic contamination. Harike wetland is located downstream of the confluence of the Beas and Sutlej rivers. Rivers are nature's drainage systems, which collect waste from everywhere and move ahead. On the same note, the Harike wetland, which is the largest wetland in North India and is a great home for migratory birds and aquatic animals, and the water of its canal that supplies water to the semiarid part of India's largest state, microplastics in the water were analyzed. Apart from seasonal variation, the fish gut of C. carpio caught from the fishing site of the canal has also been analysed. Between sites 1 and 2, no significant difference was found in the quantity of microplastics, but in season variation, winter showed a higher significant level than summer and the rainy season. The wetland and canal were dominated by two types of plastics: HDPE and nylon. The conformational test, along with FTIR and GC-MS, was also performed. From the gut of C. carpio, microplastics of less than 5mm in size were also recovered. The percentage of recovery was 7% of the total fish analysed. This percentage may be less, but it is not ignorable. Indeed, the amount of poorly managed plastic garbage generated by people living around or illegal outskirts garbage dumping near rivers and tributaries is a potential source of aquatic debris.