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Assessment of microplastic on tropical tidal lake waters in medan (study

cases-siombak lake)
To cite this article: N H Hasibuan et al 2023 IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 1239 012025

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ICRC-2023 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1239 (2023) 012025 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1239/1/012025

Assessment of microplastic on tropical tidal lake waters in

medan (study cases-siombak lake)

1,2*
N H Hasibuan , L Hutabarat 1, H Khair1, I Suryati 1, Y Anggia1 and S P
Manalu1
1
Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas
Sumatera Utara, Medan 20155, Indonesia
2
Integrated Research Laboratory, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Sumatera Utara,
Indonesia

Corresponding author:*Novridahasibuan@usu.ac.id

Abstract. Siombak Lake is an artificial lake in Medan City. We investigated microplastic

pollution in tropical tidal lake waters in the current research. Grab samples of water and
sediments were taken by Indonesian standards. Organic digestion and density separation were
used in the preparation of the sample. The categorization of the polymer was determined by
Raman Spectrophotometry, and the quantity and shape, were determined by microscopy. The
result indicated that the sediment and water in Siombak Lake were polluted with microplastic.
Both water and sediments are dominated by fragment shapes. The concentration of
microplastic in sediments water ranging from 91 to 126 particles for 100 ml water and
262 to 398 particles for one gram of dry sediment. Microplastic contains polyethylene,
polypropylene, and polystyrene, and data analysis shows a strong correlation between the
amount of microplastic in water and sediment.

1. Introduction

Activities related to water tourism have the potential to produce significant amounts of litter, such as
the plastic trash that is frequently seen in tourist regions. Plastic garbage is one of the non-organic
wastes that produce in massive quantities, according to several research on waste management in
marine tourism regions like lakes. Plastic litter makes up 21% of the total solid waste in the Lake Toba
Area [1] and 24,8% of the total waste in the Lake Singkarak tourist region [2].
Chemicals could be released during the process of breaking down large plastics into small pieces
like mesoplastic or microplastic, which is a problem that affects worldwide today. When heated or as a
result of specific physical processes, many types of plastic can potentially release dangerous
chemicals. Plastic can slowly decompose naturally or as a result of external intervention. Plastics with
a size of less than 5 mm are referred to as microplastics. Plastic with this very small size has even
more potential to have an impact on the environment. Microplastics can reduce the ability to eat
marine animals when ingested because microplastics can accumulate in the digestive systems of
marine animals.
Lake can keep water for longer than rivers and have relatively lower flow rates, more microplastics
can settle there [3]. Tides is one factor that affects the movement of microplastics in marine

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IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1239 (2023) 012025 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1239/1/012025

ecosystems [4]. Siomak Lake is one of the artificial lakes in Medan City which is in the Medan
Marelan District which is close to the sea coast. Lake Siombak has an area of 41.44 ha with a long
coastline reaching 2.83 km, The water for this lake comes from the Balmerah river and is controlled
by the tides [5]. Tidal Lake is rare [5]. At high tide, this lake has a maximum depth of 5 m, while at
low tide, it can have a maximum depth of 4 m [6]. Sungai Balmerah is One of the rivers that flows
TPA Terjun. The purposes of Lake Siombak are flood management, fishing, and tourism. A
residential, agricultural, aquaculture, and animal husbandry zone surrounds the lake. The residents
who live close to Siombak Lake use it as a supply of water for their fish ponds. Due to the number of
fishing spots and near to Medan City’s, Lake Siombak is one of the city's prospective water tourism
destinations.
Several lakes in Indonesia, including Lake Singkarak [7] in West Sumatra and Lake Towuti in
South Sulawesi [8], have been the subject of research on microplastics in lakes. This study intends to
characterize the types and concentrations of microplastics in the sediments and water of Lake
Siombak, one of the city of Medan's primary tidal lakes.

2. Method

The investigation was done at the Lake Siombak tourist attraction in Medan City's Jl. Ps. Nippon
Medan Marelan District. Purposive sampling, a sampling strategy with a specified goal and
consideration of the circumstances of the research region, is used to identify the sample point. S1A1
stands for the Badera River, S2A2 for the middle of Lake Siombak, A3S3 for the lake's outlet, A4S4
for the lake's tourism area, and A5S5 for drainage. Sampling was repeated twice at each location. The
sampling locations are as follows :

Figure 1. Sampling Location

Surface water sampling is defined by SNI 6989.57:2008. The method used is the instantaneous
collection. A water sampler was used to collect river water, and an ekman grab was used to collect the
sediments. Water is taken in mid down of the lake's depth, and sediment is collected between 0 and 10
cm below the sediment's surface. At 40C, water and sediment are kept. An adaptation of a National

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ICRC-2023 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1239 (2023) 012025 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1239/1/012025

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) procedure was used to prepare the water and
sediment samples.
A light microscope (XSP-12) and Raman microscopes (The LabRAM HR Evolution Horiba) used
to measure the morphology of microplastics. Based on shape features, such as films, pieces, pellets,
forms, and fibers, microplastics are divided. Polyethylene, Polypropylene, and Polystyrene were the
three types of microplastics that were examined. With the hypothesis that there is a relationship
between the abundance of microplastics in water and sediments, the abundance will be analysed by the
Pearson Correlation test using SPPS with an alpha value of 95%.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Microplastic morphologies

Microplastic morphology consists of the shape and type of microplastic polymer. The current
classification of microplastic forms is still very varied, so this research refers to the classification of
the research [9]. The results of the analysis of the shape of microplastics using a light microscope
(XSP-12) showed that fragments, films, fibers and pellets were found in Lake Siombak where
fragments were the most prevalent form in the water, accounting for 75%, followed by films at 14%,
and fiber at 11%. In sediments, fragments represent most of the microplastic in terms of percentage
(74%), with films following in second at 11% and fiber in third at 15%.
In the form of pellets, they are only found in the inlet, namely from the Sei Badera River and
drainage. Most of the microplastics in the sediments and water of the tidal Lake Siombak is fragments.
Sharp edges, uneven forms, and thickness are characteristics of fragments [9] and [10]. Several
investigations have demonstrated the presence of microplastics in various lakes, including the Yangtze
Estuary lake containing 39% [11], Lake Bolsena dan Lake Chiusi [4], Singkarak Lake [7] and Lake
Towuti in South Sulawesi [8]. The amount of microplastics present in Lake Siombak's water and
sediments is as follows:

Figure 2. Microplastic shapes

Danau siombak is one lake that has the potential to attract tourists, At the moment, tourism-related
activities have grown in the area around the lake, and on the other side of the lake, there are many
other community activities, including residential areas. Secondary microplastics, or those formed by
major plastic fragmentation, are produced by tourism and community activities. Waste from food
packaging, plastic bags, wraps, and bottles all include microplastics in the form of fragments and films
[7]. The formation of secondary microplastics is accelerated by heat reactions, photodegradation, and
current waves from water dynamics [8].

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ICRC-2023 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1239 (2023) 012025 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1239/1/012025

Figure 3. Characteristic of microplastic shape in water and sediment Siombak Lake

Some selected point on sample was analysed by Raman to find the chemical compositions. The
polimer type of microplastic was identify such polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) and
polystiren (PS). According to Hildago-Ruz et al (2012) in research [12], the density of polymers can
affect the distribution of microplastics in waters. The results of the spectral wave peak analysis on
the microplastic samples at the inlet from drainage were 1528.84 cm-1, 1452.08 cm-1, 1341.77 cm-
1, 747.49 cm-1, and 680.71 cm-1, and for samples in lake sediments, they were 1581.27 cm-1,
1527.84 cm-1, 1428.73 cm-1, 1363.21 cm-1, and 746.40 cm-1.The existence of methylene chains in
common alkanes (1452.08 cm-1 and 1428.73 cm-1) and an aromatic chain (1528.84 cm-1 and
1581.27 cm-1) is indicated by several spectral wave peaks. Polystyrene (PS) is the only type of
plastic polymer with an aromatic carbon chain; polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) only
contain regular alkane carbon chains. The spectral peaks at 747.49 cm-1 and 746.40 cm-1 suggest
the methylene group (CH2) has the potential for the presence of polyethylene (PE), whereas the
peaks at 1341.77 cm-1 and 1363.21 cm-1 show the methyl group (CH3) is potentially
polypropylene (PP). The results of this investigation show that PS, PE, and PS are present in the
sediment and water samples from Lake Siombak. Due to their lower density, PE and PP have a
propensity to float and stay to the water's surface for a long period of time [12].

3.2. Abundance of Microplastic

The analysis of all samples showed that Lake Siombak was polluted with microplastics at each site
chosen for sampling. The average concentration of microplastics in water is 90–126 particles/100 ml,
while the average concentration in dry sediment is 278–397 particles/g.

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ICRC-2023 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1239 (2023) 012025 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1239/1/012025

Figure 4. Abundance of Mps

Microplastics were identified in high concentrations in the middle part of Lake Siombak, reaching 92
particles/100 ml of water and 262 particles/g of sediment. Siombak Lake serves as a location for
fishing and other aquatic life. The concentration of microplastics in tourist-oriented locations is as
high as 126 particles/100 ml and 366 particles/g of sediment. In comparison to fishing sites, tourist
areas have a higher concentration of microplastics. Several studies that indicate how much plastic
waste is produced in tourist regions, such as Merek on Lake Toba Brand, which is estimated to
account for 21% of all waste produced [1] and the Lake Singkarak tourist area contributes 24.8% of
plastic waste [2]. In addition, the data also shows that the inlet channel from Lake Siombak which
originates from the Sei Balmera River and the drainage already contains microplastics with an amount
of 94 particles/100 ml and 398 particles/g of sediment where the Sei Balmera River which passes
through TPATerjung as the main TPA for waste management in Medan City and 91 particles/100 ml
and 279 particles/g in the sediment for the source of the drainage. At the Lake Siombak outlet, there
were 362 particles/g of sediment and 103 particles/100 mL. Fish Ponds and locals near Lake Siombak
frequently use the water from the lake's outlet as a source of water.
The results of the data analysis show that there are greater concentrations of microplastics in
sediment than there are in water. This is so because water's hydrodynamic characteristics have an
impact on microplastic particles [12], Strong currents and waves with irregular directions allow
microplastic particles to spread inconsistently [8]. Beside that, Danau Siombak is affected by tides so
retention time (Rt) considered short, it is only 11 to 25 hours [5]. According to the Pearson correlation
analysis test results, there is a significant relationship between the amount of microplastics in water
and sediment, which is 0.026, and the Pearson correlation value, which is 0.694 and qualifies into the
strong correlation. The correlation between the number of microplastics in water and sediments is
significant, and it means that the greater number of microplastics there are in the water, the more there
are in the sediments. According to [13], microplastics that have been distributed in the water will settle
and be swept away by currents, causing them to mix with sediment and increasing the speed at which
microplastics accumulate in sediments.

4. Conclusion

Microplastic contamination has been found in Lake Siombak, with concentrations in the water ranging
from 91 to 126 particles for 100 ml water and 262 to 398 particles for one gram of dry sediment, with
fragments, which are typical of secondary microplastics, dominated found. Lake Siombak contains

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ICRC-2023 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1239 (2023) 012025 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1239/1/012025

microplastics from of polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene. An integrated plastic

management strategy is required in Lake Siombak, as supply of water for fisheries and aquaculture, to
reduce the effects of microplastic contamination on the biota.

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Acknowledgment
This research was held by funding support from Research Institution at University of Sumatera Utara
by Research Implementation Contract TALENTA USU 2022 with Number 11119.1/UN5.1.R/PPM/
2022 on 08 August 2022.