Saraswat, ShwetaSheikh Shifa2023-02-272023-02-272022-08https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810194544Plastic pollution is presently a serious environmental threat and microplastics are plastic fragments that are less than 5 mm in size which created bigger environmental threat because of their small size. This research work highlighted the assessment and characterization of microplastics in Gaula River. A few methods suitable for sampling them are sieving, filtration, visual sorting, digesting, and density separation. The FTIR characterized different type of microplastics in both the upstream and downstream samples such as polyethene (PE), Poly vinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene(PP), polystyrene(PS), high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and polyamide (PA). According to SEM images, majority of microplastics in both upstream and downstream were fibers followed by fragments, films and pellets and the size of the microplastics were found to be in the range of 30-100 μm (0.03-0.1 mm). Fiber was the dominant shape. EDS for microplastics in upstream and downstream represented additional peaks for carbon and oxygen along with the peaks of other elements. The elements C is significant component of polymers and the occurrence of its peaks confirms the presence of microplastic. While SEM-EDS and FTIR were the identifying techniques applied in this research work, there is still a need and space for the development of more practical and accessible methods. The assessment and characterization of microplastics was done in Gaula River and the presence of microplastics was confirmed in both upstream and downstream sites and the number of microplastic particles was found to be higher in downstream site than upstream site.EnglishThesis