Project name:
Microplastic pollution study in the Ogun and Osun River Systems, Nigeria
Project description:
Rivers Osun and Ogun are the two major rivers in the southwestern part of Nigeria and both are tributaries of the Gulf of Guinea within the Nigerian territory. River Osun takes its source from Ekiti State and finally flows into the Lekki Lagoon which is interconnected with the Lagos Lagoon. River Ogun flows from Oyo State into the Lagos Lagoon, and is ultimately linked with the Gulf of Guinea. The project aims at assessing microplastic occurrence and load in the water column and river bed of the both rivers. Sampling will be conducted over a period of time such that it covers the major seasons in Nigeria (e.g. early rainy season, late rainy season, early dry season, late dry season). Samples will be collected for both water and sediment analysis from different sections of the river, as well as in some key indicator macroinvertebrate species. Thereafter, appropriate laboratory techniques will be employed to extract microplastics from the samples, and final identification will be carried out using the micro Fourier Transform-Infrared (µFT-IR) spectroscopy.