Microplastics ingestion by a common tropical freshwater fishing resource

Microplastics pollution is widespread in marine ecosystems and a major threat to biodiversity. Nevertheless, our knowledge of the impacts of microplastics in freshwater environments and biota is still very limited. The interaction of microplastics with freshwater organisms and the risks associated w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental pollution (1987) 2017-02, Vol.221, p.218-226
Main Authors: Silva-Cavalcanti, Jacqueline Santos, Silva, José Diego B., França, Elton José de, Araújo, Maria Christina Barbosa de, Gusmão, Felipe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Aquatic Organisms
Biota
Ecosystem
Environmental Monitoring
Fishes
Fresh Water
Freshwater
Gastrointestinal Contents - chemistry
Hoplosternum littorale
Marine
Microfibres
Plastics - analysis
River
Rivers
Seafood
Semi-arid
South America
Urbanization
Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
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Summary:Microplastics pollution is widespread in marine ecosystems and a major threat to biodiversity. Nevertheless, our knowledge of the impacts of microplastics in freshwater environments and biota is still very limited. The interaction of microplastics with freshwater organisms and the risks associated with the human consumption of organisms that ingested microplastics remain major knowledge gaps. In this study, we assessed the ingestion of microplastics by Hoplosternum littorale, a common freshwater fish heavily consumed by humans in semi-arid regions of South America. We assessed the abundance and diversity of both plastic debris and other food items found in the gut of fishes caught by local fishermen. We observed that 83% of the fish had plastic debris inside the gut, the highest frequency reported for a fish species so far. Most of the plastic debris (88.6%) recovered from the guts of fish were microplastics (
ISSN:0269-7491
1873-6424
DOI:10.1016/j.envpol.2016.11.068