30. Distribution Characteristics of Plastic Particles in Coastal and Beach of Hsinchu, Taiwan

To know the situation of plastic particle concentration and distribution in Taiwan western costal, this study selects the sea area in Hsinchu County to conduct an analysis. Therefore, samples were taken in the beaches, beach junction sea area, estuaries and lower reaches of the river from Hsinchu County. And the thermal contact meth (NIEA M909.00C) for the detection of microplastics in water announced by Environmental Analysis Laboratory, Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan is selected to investigate the concentration of plastic particles. At the same time, type of plastic particles under the microscope was recorded to further analyze the possible causes and sources of those plastic particles. The analysis results show that in terms of the distribution of plastic particles, the concentration of plastic particles on the beach is 25.3–53.3 items/kg; the concentration of plastic particles in the sea area is 1.6–8.0 items/L; the concentration of plastic particles in the estuaries and lower reaches of the river is 2.3–3.6 items/L. At each sampling location, the plastic particles are mainly long strips, and a few are round and flakes. The elongated plastic particles are mainly derived from discarded fishing nets or waste clothing; the main source of round plastic particles is cleaning agents; and the flake plastic particles are generated by plastic degradation. On the whole, the smallest appearance of plastic particles is round or spherical, which means that the occurrence rate of microbeads in the water bodies of Hsinchu County is low. It shows that the government has achieved remarkable results after banning the use of microbeads.