Plastic Pollution in the Aquatic Ecosystem of the High-Mountain Lake Markakol (Kazakhstan): First Observations and Conclusions
Madibekov A. Ismukhanova L. Opp C. Sultanbekova B. Zhadi A. Zhumatayev S. Madibekova A.
September 2024Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
Applied Sciences (Switzerland)
2024#14Issue 18
The primary data of micro- and macroplastics in the aquatic environment of Lake Markakol, located in the mountainous area of East Kazakhstan, are presented. The determination of micro- and macroplastics in water is based on sieving, drying, liquid oxidation, density separation and visual sorting using a microscope with a magnification of 40×. The detected plastic fragments in the aquatic environment include fishing line nets, Styrofoam balls, plastic bags, plastic bottles, wrappers, food labels and packages and other types of plastic waste. The sizes of the plastic fragments were ˃25 mm, 1.0–5.0 mm and 0.315–1.0 mm. The concentration of plastic in Lake Markakol was 837.5 µg/m3 in the tributaries and 482.1 µg/m3 in the lake water. The detected plastic mainly corresponded to sieve mesh sizes of 1.0–5.0 mm and 0.315–1.0 mm. The main sources of plastic pollution are fishing, tourism and the lack of adequate infrastructure for household waste management. These data emphasize the importance of measures to regulate plastic waste management in order to preserve the Lake Markakol ecosystem and maintain human health.
aquatic ecosystem , concentration , environment , microplastic , plastic pollution
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Laboratory of Hydrochemistry and Environmental Toxicology, Institute of Geography and Water Security JSC, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
Faculty of Geography, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, D-35032, Germany
Water, Land and Forest Resources Faculty, Department Water Resources and Reclamation, Kazakh National Agrarian Research University, Almaty, 050013, Kazakhstan
Department of Surveying and Geodesy, Kazakh National Research Technical University Named after K.I. Satpayev, Almaty, 050000, Kazakhstan
Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, 050010, Kazakhstan
Laboratory of Hydrochemistry and Environmental Toxicology
Faculty of Geography
Water
Department of Surveying and Geodesy
Department of Meteorology and Hydrology
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