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Microplastic pollution in water, sediment, and fish from artificial reefs around the Ma’an Archipelago, Shengsi, China
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Microplastics were detected in water, sediment, and fish from artificial reef structures in the Ma'an Archipelago, China, demonstrating that even managed marine habitat enhancement areas are contaminated with plastic particles. The findings suggest that microplastic monitoring should be incorporated into artificial reef management and ecological assessments.
In this study, the occurrence and distribution of microplastics in artificial reefs around the Ma'an Archipelago, a national marine ranching area in China, were investigated. The abundance of microplastics ranged from 0.2 ± 0.1 to 0.6 ± 0.2 items L in surface water, 30.0 ± 0.0 to 80.0 ± 14.1 items kg dry weight in the sediment, and 2.3 ± 1.5 to 7.3 ± 3.5 items individual in fish. Most of the detected microplastics were fiber-shaped, blue or transparent, and smaller than 1 mm. Polyethylene, polypropylene, and poly(ethylene:propylene:diene) copolymer were the most abundant polymer types in the surface water samples, whereas cellophane was dominant in the sediment and fish. The appearance of microplastic pollution around the artificial reefs could be attributed mainly to the activities of the fisheries in the area, whereas the microplastic ingestion by fish was affected by the extent of microplastic contamination of the sediment. The results highlight the widespread presence of microplastics in the water, sediment, and biota of the artificial reefs around the Ma'an Archipelago, thereby improving understanding of the environmental risks posed by microplastics to marine artificial reef ecosystems and fisheries in general.
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