Microplastics in mangrove clam, pegophysema philippiana (reeve, 1850), in baganga, davao oriental, philippines

The Philippines ranks as the third most significant source of plastic pollution in the ocean and is recognized as one of the world's biodiversity hotspots (Jambeck et. al., 2015). Multiple studies (Argamino & Janairo, 2016; Deocaris et al., 2019; Espiritu et al., 2019; Limbago et al., 2021) have already documented the presence of microplastic pollution in the Philippines. Although there is an increasing body of research on the occurrence of microplastics in the country, there is limited published information regarding the consumption of microplastics by commonly consumed bivalves such as the mangrove clam, Pegophysema philippiniana. The presence of microplastic ingestion in Pegophysema philippiana has been reported in this study. This study is the first preliminary report on the quantity of microplastics ingested by Pegophysema philippiana. Twenty-one (21) microplastics were extracted from the soft tissue of mangrove clam, Pegophysema philippiana collected in the three barangays of Baganga, Davao Oriental. Having 15 microfilaments/fiber and 6 microfragments whose size vary 550-200 μm for microfilaments and 300-200 μm for fragments. The most common size for both microfilaments and microfragments is 200 μm. Four colors were observed in the study, black being the most dominant that can be attributed from the fishing industry and residents in the area. FT-IR analysis revealed that the Pegophysema philipianna ingested polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) and polyacetylene. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/549592/document