Microplastics in Acetes shrimps from the southeastern coast of Bangladesh

Microplastics (MPs), though often invisible to the naked eye, pose a significant and pervasive environmental threat, subtly integrating into natural systems and disrupting ecological balance. Ingestion of MPs at different trophic levels has been widely documented, but their impacts on zooplankton have been under-studied despite their vital ecological roles in marine food webs. In this study, MPs were determined in popular seafood Acetes shrimps (Acetes chinensis and A. erythraeus) from the southeastern coast of Bangladesh. The entire body of the shrimps (500 individuals of each species) underwent comprehensive MP analysis through aquamation (alkaline hydrolysis), microscopic examination and polymer identification by Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscope (ATR-FTIR). A total of 67 and 110 particles were visually identified, among which 39 and 51 particles were determined as MPs using ATR-FTIR in A. erythraeus and A. chinensis, respectively, averaging 0.078–0.102 particles per species. This study encountered various colours, shapes, and types of MPs, among which white/transparent (49–59%), filamentous (76–82%), and fiber (76–77%) were prevalent. The study observed a size range of MPs from < 500 µm to 5 mm, with a concentration of 1.33–11.15 items/g biomass. ATR-FTIR analysis identified 37, 25, 11, 9, 5, and 3 polymer particles of Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Polyethylene Terephthalate, Nylon-6 (Polyamide), Ethylene Vinyl Acetate and Polybutylene Terephthalate respectively. The findings of this study have elicited a “wake-up call” on the bioaccumulation of MPs in Acetes shrimps with potential contamination of seafood and public health concerns in the Bay of Bengal region.