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Uptake and Incorporation of Pcbs by Eastern Mediterranean Rabbitfish That Consumed Microplastics
Summary
This study tested whether polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) could be transferred from microplastics to rabbitfish tissue, finding that fish ingesting PCB-contaminated polypropylene microplastics accumulated PCBs in their organs. The results provide direct experimental evidence that microplastics can serve as vectors delivering persistent organic pollutants to commercially important fish species.
Two experiments were executed to assess the feasibility of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) transfer to fish tissues via MPs as a vector. PCBs that occur in the marine environment were tested for their adsorption to four different MP types. PCB congeners showed the highest adsorption levels to Polypropylene homo-polymer. The uptake of PCBs through MP ingestion was tested in an outdoor mesocosm using the herbivorous rabbitfish, Siganus rivulatus in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Polypropylene homo-polymer particles (0.3-5.0 mm) pre saturated with 11 PCB congeners, in two concentrations (500 ng/g and 5000 ng/g), were mixed with dough and offered to the fish. PCBs were identified after two weeks in fish muscle tissues, but not in the liver. These results suggest that ingestion of contaminated MP by rabbitfish might harm them in the long run, and perhaps even those who consume them on a regular basis, e.g. rabbitfish predators and humans.