Occurrence of microplastics in gastrointestinal tracts and gills of fish from Beibu Gulf, South China Sea

Koongolla, J. Bimali; Lin, Li; Pan, Yun-Feng; Yang, Changping; Sun, Donglin; Liu, Shan; Xu, Xiangrong; Maharana, Dusmant; Huang, Jianbo; Li, Heng‐Xiang

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113734

Cited by 148 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…To explore the presence of macro‐ and microplastics in marine biota, most studies (80 of 112) examined the gastrointestinal contents, as a whole or a portion of the gastrointestinal tract. In the case of cetaceans, just some examined the gut (Moore et al., 2009; Zhu et al., 2019); for fishes, some examined gills (Huang et al., 2020; Koongolla et al, 2020); and only a few studies analysed liver, muscle or faeces (Huang et al., 2020; Ryan et al., 2016; Su et al., 2019; Unger et al., 2016; Wu et al., 2020). One of the main methods of preserving samples after collection is freezing them at −20°C, but for small species, preservation in a glass container using a fixative such as formaldehyde/ethanol is an option that has been evaluated as having no effect on the different types of microplastics (Courtene‐Jones et al., 2017).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview of global status of plastic presence in marine vertebrates

López-Martínez¹,

Morales‐Caselles

Kadar

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

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The presence of plastic in the environment is generating impacts on all habitats and has become a major global problem in marine megafauna. Macroplastics can cause entanglement, ingestion and loss of suitable habitats. In addition to entanglement problems, there is evidence that plastics are entering the food web through ingestion by marine organisms, which could ultimately be affecting humans. Much of the available information on the impact of plastic in biota is scattered and disconnected due to the use of different methodologies. Here, we review the variety of approaches and protocols followed to assess macro‐ and microplastic ingestion in marine vertebrates such as sea turtles, cetaceans and fishes in order to offer a global overview of their current status. The analysis of 112 studies indicates the highest plastic ingestion in organisms collected in the Mediterranean and Northeast Indian Ocean with significant differences among plastic types ingested by different groups of animals, including differences in colour and the type of prevalent polymers. In sea turtles, the most prevalent types of plastics are white plastics (66.60%), fibres (54.54%) and LDPE polymer (39.09%); in cetaceans, white macro‐ and microplastics (38.31%), fibres (79.95%) and PA polymer (49.60%); and in fishes, transparent plastics (45.97%), fibres (66.71%) and polyester polymer (36.20%). Overall, clear fibre microplastics are likely the most predominant types ingested by marine megafauna around the globe.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview of global status of plastic presence in marine vertebrates

López-Martínez¹,

Morales‐Caselles

Kadar

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

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“…For large fish, the stomach and/or gastrointestinal tract (GIT) was isolated and digested to detect microplastics [ 9 , 25 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 ]. Unlike the digestion method used for sea salts, various chemicals were used to decompose organic materials, including potassium hydroxide (KOH) [ 9 , 22 , 23 , 38 , 45 , 47 , 48 , 53 , 55 , 56 , 58 , 62 , 64 , 71 , 74 , …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Higher digestion temperatures could shorten the required time, but they increase the possibility for thermoplastic loss [ 100 ]. Microscopic analysis coupled with FT-IR spectroscopy was the most popular method for chemical identification of microplastics [ 9 , 25 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 61 , 64 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 73 , 74 , 75 ]. Raman spectroscopy was also applied [ 59 , 62 ] due to its enhanced performance with smaller particles [ 100 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Microplastics were rarely found in edible tissues, such as muscle [ 9 , 22 , 59 , 64 , 71 ], but they were predominantly found in digestive tracts [ 9 , 22 , 23 , 25 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 ]. Because it is unclear how microplastics are transported to edible tissues, human exposure to microplastics due to the consumption of edible fish tissue requires further evaluation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microplastics in Food: A Review on Analytical Methods and Challenges

Kwon

Kim

Pham

et al. 2020

IJERPH

105

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Human exposure to microplastics contained in food has become a significant concern owing to the increasing accumulation of microplastics in the environment. In this paper, we summarize the presence of microplastics in food and the analytical methods used for isolation and identification of microplastics. Although a large number of studies on seafood such as fish and shellfish exist, estimating the overall human exposure to microplastics via food consumption is difficult owing to the lack of studies on other food items. Analytical methods still need to be optimized for appropriate recovery of microplastics in various food matrices, rendering a quantitative comparison of different studies challenging. In addition, microplastics could be added or removed from ingredients during processing or cooking. Thus, research on processed food is crucial to estimate the contribution of food to overall human microplastic consumption and to mitigate this exposure in the future.

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“…Currently, additives leached from plastics are present in the environment ( Sackaria and Elango, 2020 , Schmidt et al, 2020 ). Beside the additives with toxic effects, which can be released and get to water or soil, microplastics can be ingested for instance by marine species and release toxins directly into the body ( Alomar et al, 2017 , Du et al, 2020 , Koongolla et al, 2020 , Ozturk and Altinok, 2020 ). Highly prone to pollutants accumulation are marine animals ( Huang et al, 2020a ).…”

Section: Future Risk and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%