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Microplastics transferring from abiotic to biotic in aquatic ecosystem: A mini review
Summary
A review compiled field data from dozens of studies and found that microplastics are more abundant in aquatic sediments than in water or in mussels and fish, and that a meaningful correlation exists between sediment and mussel contamination. However, the pathway and extent of biomagnification through the food chain remains unclear, as consistent evidence is lacking. The authors call for more standardized methods so studies can be reliably compared — a significant gap given ongoing concerns about microplastics entering human diets through seafood.
Microplastics have been detected in global aquatic ecosystems, so it is vital to understand the bioaccumulation and biomagnification of microplastics for ecological risk assessment. However, variability between studies, including sampling, pretreatment processes, and polymer identification methods have made it difficult to draw definitive conclusions. Alternatively, the compilation and statistical analysis of available experimental and investigation data provides insight into the fates of microplastics in an aquatic ecosystem. To reduce bias, we performed a systematic literature retrieval and compiled these reports on microplastic abundance in the natural aquatic environment. Our results indicate that microplastics are more abundant in sediments than in water, mussels, and fish. There is a significant correlation between mussels and sediments, but not between water and mussels or between water/sediment and fish. Bioaccumulation of microplastics appears to occur through water, but the route of biomagnification is unclear. More sound evidence is required to fully understand the biomagnification of microplastics in aquatic environments.