Microplastics as contaminants in commercially important seafood species

Abstract

The ingestion of microplastic fragments, spheres, and fibers by marine mollusks, crustaceans, and fish, including a number of commercially important species, appears to be a widespread and pervasive phenomenon. Evidence is also growing for direct impacts of microplastic ingestion on physiology, reproductive success and survival of exposed marine organisms, and transfer through food webs, although the ecological implications are not yet known. Concerns also remain over the capacity for microplastics to act as vectors for harmful chemical pollutants, including plastic additives and persistent organic pollutants, although their contribution must be evaluated alongside other known sources. The potential for humans, as top predators, to consume microplastics as contaminants in seafood is very real, and its implications for health need to be considered. An urgent need also exists to extend the geographical scope of studies of microplastic contamination in seafood species to currently underrepresented areas, and to finalize and adopt standardized methods and quality-assurance protocols for the isolation, identification, and quantification of microplastic contaminants from biological tissues. Such developments would enable more robust investigation of spatial and temporal trends, thereby contributing further evidence as a sound basis for regulatory controls. Despite the existence of considerable uncertainties and unknowns, there is already a compelling case for urgent actions to identify, control, and, where possible, eliminate key sources of both primary and secondary microplastics before they reach the marine environment. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:516-521. © 2017 SETAC.

Future scenarios of global plastic waste generation and disposal

“…Over 660 species (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2012), ranging from seabirds, fish, bivalves to the zooplanktons at the bottom of the marine food chain, are known to be affected by plastic debris (Ivar do Sul and Costa, 2014; Van Cauwenberghe and Janssen, 2014) and there is credible evidence of the bioavailability of pollutants concentrated in the plastic (Heskett et al, 2012;Chen et al, 2017) to the ingesting organisms. Potential trophic transfer of the plastics and pollutants along the food chain (Au et al, 2017) and their potential tainting of human seafood (Santillo et al, 2017) are particularly serious concerns.…”

Novel trends in plastic waste management

“…A significant increase in plastics percentage in MSW has been noted [48]. Plastics wastes amounted about 20% of the total volume and 8% of overall weight of MSW in USA during 2000 with significant increment to about 11.7% by 2006 (EPA) 2006 reports and about 15-25% in Europe (2004) [49]. In 2015, USEPA revealed modes of municipal plastic wastes management from 1960 to 2015 as illustrated in Fig.…”

Microplastic occurrence and effects in commercially harvested North American finfish and shellfish: Current knowledge and future directions

“…These studies demonstrate uptake of microplastic beads, pellets, and fibers in oysters, clams, scallops, and mussels (Brillant and MacDonald 2000;Ward and Kach 2009;Wertz 2018;Woods et al 2018), and indicate microplastic accumulation may vary by organ. Laboratory studies on shellfish undertaken outside of the North American continent report mixed physiological effects and biological endpoints in bivalves exposed to microplastics of varied types, sizes, and materials (Santillo et al 2017). 2; Table 1).…”

“…2; Table 1). Laboratory studies on shellfish undertaken outside of the North American continent report mixed physiological effects and biological endpoints in bivalves exposed to microplastics of varied types, sizes, and materials (Santillo et al 2017). However, several types of microplastics (microparticles, microbeads, microfibers) can cause increased respiration rates, changes in feeding, reduced fecundity, DNA damage, and neurotoxicity in various species (e.g., Green 2016;Sussarellu et al 2016;Ribeiro et al 2017;Woods et al 2018).…”