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Microplastic contamination across different feeding guilds of commercially important fishes from the Southeast Coast of India
Summary
Researchers found tiny plastic particles (microplastics) in popular seafood from India's southeast coast, including mussels, prawns, and fish like red snapper and mackerel — with wild-caught mussels and opportunistic-feeding fish showing the highest levels. Most of the plastic bits were tiny black fibers, likely from sources like synthetic clothing and fishing gear, made of common plastics like polyethylene. Since these are commonly eaten seafood species, this raises real questions about how much microplastic ends up on our dinner plates and in our bodies — though more research is needed to understand what that means for our health.
Plastic pollution is an escalating issue in marine ecosystems, with microplastics (MPs) becoming a significant contaminant. MPs have been identified in many aquatic organisms, affecting all trophic levels through direct or indirect consumption. This study investigates the prevalence of MPs in commercially available edible finfish and shellfish species in Puducherry, India. Four shellfish species, Asian green mussel (Perna viridis), Asian hard clam (Meretrix meretrix), Indian prawn (Fenneropenaeus indicus), and cultured Tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon), and five finfish species, Red snapper (Lutjanus argentimaculatus), Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta), Indian oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps), mackerel scad (Deccapterus macarellus), and Indian lizardfish (Synodus indicus) were examined. Among the shellfish, we found the highest concentration of MPs in mussels collected from the sea and the lowest in Tiger prawns collected from aquaculture ponds. In finfish, the highest microplastic (MP) was detected in the Red snapper, an opportunistic feeder, and the lowest in the Indian oil sardine, a pelagic feeder. Fibers predominated in MP types for both finfish and shellfish, with black being the most prevalent color. Shellfish consumed more MP in the < 500-µm size, whereas finfish consumed the MP particles of the 500-1000-µm range. Hierarchical cluster analysis has been carried out to examine the linkage in the ingestion patterns of MP profiles among different species. The significant polymers identified include high- and low-density polyethylenes, polyurethane, cellulose acetate, and ethylene-vinyl acetate. The presence of MP in commonly consumed seafood raises ecological concerns and underscores the need for further investigation into potential human exposure pathways.