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Occurrence, distribution and sources of microplastics in typical marine recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) in China: The critical role of RAS operating time and microfilter
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This study found microplastics in all parts of fish farming systems in China, including the feed, water, and the fish themselves. Systems that had been running longer accumulated more microplastics, and the plastic types found in fish closely matched those in their feed and water. The findings suggest that farmed fish -- a major protein source -- can be a route of microplastic exposure for people who eat seafood.
Industrial mariculture, a vital means of providing high quality protein to humans, is a potential source of microplastics (MPs) which have recently received increasing attention. This study investigated the occurrence and distribution of microplastics in feed, source water and recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) with long & short operating times as well as in fish from typical industrial mariculture farms in China. Results showed that microplastics occurred in all samples with the average concentration of 3.53 ± 1.39 particles/g, 0.70 ± 0.17 particles/L, 1.53 ± 0.21 particles/L and 2.21 ± 0.62 particles/individual for feed, source water, RAS and fish, respectively. Microplastics were mainly fiber in shape, blue in color and 20-500 μm in size. Compared with short operated RAS, long operating time led to higher microplastic concentration in RAS, especially that of microplastic in 20-500 μm, granular and blue. Regardless of short or long operating time, microplastics in RAS mainly gathered in culture tank, tank before microfilter and fixed-bed biological filter, and the microfilter removed efficiently the microplastic with the shape of film, granule, fragment as well as those with size > 1000 μm. As for the polymer types, polyamide (PA, 71.9 %) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 65.7 %) dominated in feed and source water, respectively, which may be the reason for the high proportion of PA (38.8 % and 26.4 %) and PET (31.8 % and 30.2 %) in RAS and fish. In addition, polypropylene (PP) was also detected in RAS (18.7 %) and fish (22.6 %), indicating that other plastic facilities such as PP brush carrier also made a contribution. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) model revealed three sources of MP in RAS, namely plastic facilities, industrial sewage and plastic packaging products. Our results provided a theoretical basis for the management of MP in RAS.
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Researchers investigated microplastic contamination in a recirculating aquaculture system raising European seabass and found plastic particles in the water, fish feed, and fish tissues including gills, gut, and liver. The most common particles were fibers and fragments from polyester and polyethylene. This study shows that even controlled farming environments are not free from microplastic contamination, which has implications for farmed seafood safety.
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