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Micro-plastic Bioaccumulation in Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) of Lake Champlain
Summary
This study investigated microplastic bioaccumulation in yellow perch from Lake Champlain, finding plastic particles in fish tissue near wastewater treatment plant outflows. The results suggest that wastewater effluent is a significant pathway for microplastics entering freshwater food chains, including fish consumed by people.
Micro-plastics are discharged into watersheds through wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent and onward into waterbodies. Across six continents, shoreline sediments were dominated by highly mobile polyester and acrylic fibers, which pass through WWTP filters into the watershed (Browne et al. 2011). Herbivorous zooplankton ingest micro-plastics while grazing in laboratory studies (Wright et al. 2013). Marine worms cannot store fat, proteins, and carbohydrates, Increasing mortality and limiting energy in the food web (Watts et al. 2014). Micro-plastic consumption inhibits further feeding across many trophic levels (Cole et al. 2011, Watts et al. 2014). Micro-plastics are hydrophobic particles that behave like DDT and PCBs, acting as chemical inhibitors within living organisms and bioaccumulate within the food web (Stevens 2015). Mason (2015) found across the Lake Ontario fish community that dark fibers are the most abundant plastic within digestive tracts (> 84%).Within all yellow perch sampled (Perca flavescens) 94.4% contained micro-plastics.