The presence of microplastics in the Indonesian environment and its effects on health

Abstract

Introduction: Microplastics are plastic particles with a microscopic size of <5 mm in diameter. Microplastics are new contamination of the environment and can be bad for health.

Objective: This paper aims to examine the presence of microplastics in the Indonesian environment based on the results of research in 2022 and its effects on health.

Materials and Methods: Systematic review based on the results of research journals published in 2022. Journal obtained from a search on Google Scholar with keywords “microplastics”, “microplastics in Indonesia”, and “effect microplastic to health”.

Results: The results of a review showed that the research location was dominated in East Jawa. The presence of microplastics in the environment in Indonesia is most widely studied, namely in river and sea sediments. The forms of microplastics identified are fiber, fragment, film, pellets, granule, foam, filament, and bead. In microplastic research on the environment in Indonesia in 2022, as much as 16% analyzed plastic polymer types. The study that identified the number, shape, and color of microplastics using visual methods with a microscope was 84%. Research on the effects of microplastics on health is still little done.

Conclusions: Microplastics are widely studied in sediments, water, food, and air. Microplastics in the environment in Indonesia have been identified in number, shape, color, and polymer type. There have not been many studies that have conducted an analysis of the type of polymer. The environment in Indonesia has been polluted by microplastics that can have an impact on health.