International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056 Volume: 06 Issue: 05 | May 2019 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072 © 2019, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.211 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1559 ASSESSMENT AND QUANTIFICATION OF MICROPLASTICS CONTAMINATION IN SOUTHPENNAR RIVER WATER P. RAJADURAI 1 , D. ROOPA 2 1 Department of civil Engineering, Gnanamani College of Engineering, Namakkal , Tamilnadu, India 2 Assistant professor, Department of civil Engineering, Gnanamani College of Engineering, Namakkal , Tamilnadu, India ---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------- ABSTRACT:- Microplastic pollution in freshwater is increasingly studied in the waterways of india. Detrimental to organisms, both through physical mechanisms such as false satiation and through chemical mechanisms due to contaminant adsorption and particle leaching, microplastics originate from a variety of yet-to-be-quantified sources. This ongoing study aims to support the quantification and source identification of microplastic pollution in the southpennar river through investigative studies to uncover patterns in microplasic concentrations. Over the past funding cycle, we found evidence to suggest that microplastic concentrations do change in time and that the change differs between streams with wastewater treatment plant contributions and streams without, depending on the flow conditions at the time of the sampling session. Ongoing work continues to compare results found using different sampling methods, investigate the influence of dams on plastic transport in rivers, and link fish diets with fish consumption of microplastics in southpennar river estuaries. 1. INTRODUCTION Microplastics are generally classified as particles smaller than 5mm. They are used in some cosmetic and personal care products, for example as exfoliation microbeads, and can be generated unintentionally, for example from, fibres from clothes, particles from tyres, and abrasive sandblasting. Other microplastics result from the breakup of larger plastic objects in the oceans. The small size of microplastics means that they can end up flushed into the sea and causing damage to the marine environment. There are currently no systems to fully filter them out through waste water treatment. One study estimated that a total of 15-51 trillion microplastic particles have accumulated in the ocean. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) estimated that there are between 80,000 and 219,000 tonnes of microplastics entering the marine environment from Europe per year. Our starting point for this inquiry was significant public concern around the environmental impact of microbeads - a sub-set of microplastics that are intentionally added to cosmetic products and other toiletries, usually to exfoliate the skin. Although microbeads are only one source of microplastic pollution, accounting for a small proportion of the overall impact, we took the view that looking at their use is an important starting point for addressing the wider issue of microplastic pollution. Microplastics and their environmental impact are a relative recent subject of study. There are many areas where further research will be required. The aim of our inquiry was to investigate the scale of the problem of microplastics and establish what is known. We looked specifically at the issues of microbeads and the impact of the Government’s proposed legislative ban. This also included an examination of what is known about the health consequences microplastics and the extent of the damage to our marine ecosystems. A research briefing note by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) summarises microplastic sources and spread, the evidence that they present a risk and possible strategies to reduce plastic pollution. A briefing paper produced by the House of Commons Library also provides key information on the use of microplastics and microbeads, and their possible impacts on the environment and human health. 2. MICROPLASTICS There is an ongoing debate about the appropriate definition of microplastics. So far, the most widely used definition is that microplastics are particles less than 5 mm in their longest dimensions. This definition has been adopted in practical terms as it is considered the size under which ingestion by many species of aquatic biota occurs (GESAMP, 2015). This loose definition has been accepted by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States of America and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) of the European Union for monitoring and the implementation of directives. Thus, this document will follow the definition that microplastics are particles consisting of a heterogeneous mixture of differently shaped materials referred to as fragments, fibres/filaments, beads/spheres, films/sheets and pellets in the range from 0.1 µm to 5 000 µm in their longest dimensions (Lusher et al., 2017; EFSA, 2016), while nanoplastics are defined as plastic particles ranging from 0.001 µm to 0.1 µm. 2.1 SOURCES OF MICROPLASTIC POLLUTION One source of microplastics arises from the breakdown of larger plastics. This happens due to the action of catalysing factors such as ultraviolet light, which can alter bonds in the