Microplastics in the edible and inedible tissues of Mugil cephalus from Ashtamudi Lake, a Ramsar site in Kollam, Kerala, India

Microplastics are considered as an emerging global issue due to its detrimental effects on natural ecosystem.These microplastics have ill-effects on aquatic biota and possible hazards to human health.Contamination of fish by microplastics is a major hazard that requires special focus.We examined the presence of Microplastics in edible and inedible tissues of Mugil cephalus (Mullet) from Ashtamudi Lake, a RAMSAR site.53.33% of the sampled 60 fishes had ingested plastic particles.The average abundance of microplastics was 0.08 ± 0.009 and 0.31 ± 0.016 items/fish respectively in the edible and inedible tissues.The most commonly found MPs were fibre (70.83%).Red and black coloured microplastics were the most commonly ingested particle.Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy characterisations of the debris revealed, polyethylene as the most abundant polymer type in both edible and inedible tissue.The results point to the possibility of small-scale human ingestion of microplastics through the consumption of filter feeders from this lake.