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Micro-plastic Bioaccumulation in Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) of Lake Champlain
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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.
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Microplastic Pollution: A Survey of Wastewater Effluent in the Lake Champlain Basin
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This survey investigated microplastic pollution in wastewater effluent discharging into the Lake Champlain Basin in Vermont and New York, quantifying microplastic concentrations and types reaching the lake via treated sewage. The findings highlight wastewater treatment plants as an important pathway for microplastic entry into freshwater systems.
Microplastic pollution in perch (Perca fluviatilis, Linnaeus 1758) from Italian south-alpine lakes
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Researchers examined microplastic ingestion in European perch (Perca fluviatilis) from four Italian alpine lakes, finding MPs in the gastrointestinal tracts of all sampled fish with fibers as the dominant type and higher ingestion rates in fish from more urbanized lake catchments.
A Survey of Microplastics in Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent in the Lake Champlain Basin
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Researchers surveyed microplastic concentrations in wastewater treatment plant effluent across the Lake Champlain Basin, using acid-peroxide digestion to prepare samples for quantification of MP loads entering the watershed.
Microplastic contamination in fish from the St. Lawrence River and Estuary: Roles of semisynthetic polymers, passive uptake, and wastewater inputs
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Researchers measured microplastics in four fish species and water from the St. Lawrence River and Estuary, finding that semisynthetic polymers like rayon were commonly present — often overlooked in standard monitoring — and wastewater treatment plant effluents were a key input source.
Microplastics reach organs outside the gastrointestinal tract of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) following long-term exposure in large, in-lake mesocosms
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Researchers exposed yellow perch to environmentally relevant concentrations of polyethylene, polystyrene, and PET microplastics in in-lake mesocosms for ten weeks, finding ingestion scaled with exposure concentration but translocation to liver and muscle was rare, with liver particles averaging 50% smaller than those in the gut, suggesting size-selective uptake across the gut barrier.
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