We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Abundance and characteristics of microplastics in commercial marine fish from Malaysia
Summary
This study examined microplastic presence in the viscera and gills of 110 individual fish from 11 commercial species in Malaysian fish markets, finding plastic debris in 9 of 11 species, with 76.8% of isolated particles confirmed as plastic polymers via Raman spectroscopy. Threadfin and catfish showed the highest ingestion rates, suggesting their potential as indicator species for monitoring marine microplastic pollution trends.
AbstractPlastic debris is widespread and ubiquitous in the marine environment and ingestion of plastic debris by marine organisms is well-documented. Viscera and gills of 110 individual marine fish from 11 commercial fish species collected from the marine fish market were examined for presence of plastic debris. Isolated particles were characterized by Raman spectroscopy, and elemental analysis was assessed using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Nine (of 11) species contained plastic debris. Out of 56 isolated particles, 76.8% were plastic polymers, 5.4% were pigments, and 17.8% were unidentified. Extracted plastic particle sizes ranged from 200 to 34900 μm (mean = 2600 μm ±7.0 SD). Hazardous material was undetected using inorganic elemental analysis of extracted plastic debris and pigment particles. The highest number of ingested microplastics were measured in Eleutheronema tridactylum and Clarias gariepinus, suggesting their potential as indicator species to monitor and study trends of ingested marine litter.