Microplastics Ingestion by Freshwater Fish in the Chi River, Thailand

Abstract

Microplastic pollution mainly emanates from terrestrial sources but studies of plastic contamination in freshwater ecosystems remain limited. Consumption of freshwater fish is widespread throughout all regions of Southeast Asia. Contamination of microplastics in fish is an important issue which leads to human health risk. Common freshwater fish in the Chi River, Thailand were caught by local fishermen and investigated for abundance, size, color and shape of microplastics. Eight fish species were investigated. Results showed that 72.9% of the collected fish were polluted with microplastics at mean abundance of 1.760.97 particles per fish and was no significant difference of abundance between species. Percentage occurrence of microplastics was highest in omnivorous fish Puntioplites proctozysron (86.7%) with the most common size of microplastics ingested by fish at over 0.5 mm (47.5%), of which 56.9% were blue color and 86.9% were fiber shaped. Results revealed that fishing nets and fish cages were major sources of microplastic contaminants in the Chi River.

Do Freshwater Fish Eat Microplastics? A Review with A Focus on Effects on Fish Health and Predictive Traits of MPs Ingestion

“…On the other hand, the appearance of microplastics can also be a determining factor in non-ingestion: a detailed analysis of the stomach content parallel to MPs isolation could reveal that fish could identify and avoid ingestion of MPs particles bigger than 335 µm, as described in a study on MPs ingestion by the blueback herring, Alosa aestivalis, in the Hudson River (New York, USA) [68]. Similarly, the trophic guild, the characteristic directly responsible for the ingestion mechanism, has also been investigated as a proxy of MPs ingestion and omnivores [63,90,126] and zoobentivores [111] were found with higher concentrations in their stomach, although there are reports in which this correlation was missing [97,106].…”

Micro(nano)plastics Prevalence, Food Web Interactions, and Toxicity Assessment in Aquatic Organisms: A Review

“…While the colonization of microplastics by microorganisms reduces chances of contamination by metals or organic pollutants, it increases their chances of being mistaken for food by other marine life in higher trophic levels, which primarily feed on microorganisms attached to the microplastics. Fractions of microplastics that adhere to planktons and algae can be ingested by other aquatic organisms like fish, shrimp, invertebrates and bivalves as reported by De-la-Torre et al ( 2021), Kasamesiri and Thaimuangphol (2020), Jabeen et al (2017), Rehse et al (2016).…”

Identification of Microplastics in Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) at Koto Panjang Reservoir Kampar Regency Riau Province

“…Tipe mikroplastik yang ditemukan pada riset ini memiliki kesamaan yaitu fiber dan fragmen dimana kelimpahannya lebih rendah dibanding dengan ikan mas budidaya di Waduk Cirata dengan kelimpahan masingmasing 14,19 partikel/individu dan 7,47 partikel/ individu (Rahmah et al, 2020). Kelimpahan rata-rata yang ditemukan pada riset ini masih sedikit dibandingkan dengan keberadaan mikroplastik pada ikan air tawar di beberapa lokasi seperti pada ikan Hypophthalmichthys molitrix di Danau Taihu, China dengan kelimpahan 2,0 (Jabeen et al, 2016); Hoplosternum littorale di Sungai Pajeú Brazil dengan kelimpahan 3,6 (Cavalcanti et al, 2017); serta pada ikan Puntioplites proctozysron di Sungai Chi, Thailand dengan kelimpahan 1,8 (Kasamesiri., et al, 2020). Kelimpahan mikroplastik berdasarkan kelas ukuran ikan mas disajikan pada Gambar 2.…”