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Chemical identification of microplastics in marine organisms from the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan
Summary
Researchers chemically identified microplastics found in marine organisms from the coral reefs of the Ryukyu Archipelago in Okinawa, Japan, characterizing polymer types and particle abundance in a region under high plastic pollution pressure. The study documented diverse polymer types in reef-associated marine organisms, reflecting the complex mixture of plastic sources in Pacific island coastal waters.
The Asian-Pacific region has been identified as a hotspot for plastic pollution which makes the coral reefs of Okinawa, Japan an important location to study the pervasiveness and effect of microplastic pollution on marine organisms. To understand the effects of microplastics, it necessary to understand the abundance and types of microplastics that occur in the environment; the smaller microplastics (and nanoplastics) pose the largest threat to organisms because of their higher abundance, penetrative characteristics, and potential to be toxicologically active. However, the full effects of microplastics are still largely unknown because of the challenges in detecting and characterizing these increasingly small particles. Some of the challenges in microplastic characterization are that microplastics are (1) composed of a variety of different polymers, additives, and plasticizers, (2) are physically and chemically modified through environmental weathering, and (3) are found alongside a myriad of other naturally occurring particles. Raman and Fourier transform IR microspectroscopy have gained attention as two complementary and non-destructive techniques for microplastic chemical identification. By using both techniques, we can bypass some of the limitations each technique has. Herein, we assessed the presence and abundance of microplastics in a variety of coral-reef-reliant marine organisms (tuna, shark, and coral) in the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. Our initial findings in tuna (T. albacares) gut samples (n=11) indicated 113.8±100.2 microparticles/g of tissue ranging from about 20–500 µm in size and composed of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, nylon, and graphitic materials. Initial findings in shark (S. Lewini) gut samples (n=5) indicated polymer identifications of poly(epichlorohydrin) and phenoxy resin. Comparing the different species, we found different types and accumulation levels of microplastics which indicate different species have different exposure risks to microplastic pollution. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/559303/document