Author(s): Shiwomeh Desmond Ndre; Sameh A. Kantoush; Tetsuya Sumi; Binh Quang Nguyen; Arrah Takem
Linked Author(s): Binh Nguyen, SAMEH KANTOUSH, Tetsuya Sumi
Keywords: Microplastics Sediment Plastic Debris SPDs SPD Drivers Waste Management Pollution
Abstract: With growing climate change and increasing stress on environmental resources, the need for sustainable management and mitigation strategies is even more pressing now than ever. Water scarcity in vulnerable slum communities is one major problem affected by these growing hydro-climatic challenges. In addition to the limited coverage of the potable water network, inadequacies in waste management further aggravate the already strained access to water by the local inhabitants who often resort to local underground water sources such as wells, springs, boreholes, and rivers. In this paper, we consider the potential risk of microplastic contamination of 453 groundwater sources relative to mapped plastic hotspots in slum settlements in Yaounde-Cameroon. Our methodology integrates socio-environmental factors such as elevation, slopes, soil properties, aspects, rainfall, distance to river, and distance from hotspots to water sources which determine the potential risk of plastic transport and the level of protection at each water source. It follows from this that over 55% of considered water sources were at high risk of potentially being polluted by leaked plastics from hotspots and about 45% were considered to have a commendable level of safety from leaked plastic contamination. Sustainable measures are thus required to sufficiently protect these water sources from external microplastic contamination as well as improve garbage disposal (plastic wastes) to limit environmental spillage of plastic debris and hotspots. As a future perspective, we recommend a physicochemical analysis of sample water sources, integrating analysis of the emerging pollutant, microplastic for more precise and efficient mitigation measures.
Year: 2025