AUTHOR=Koongolla Jayamini Bimali , Lin Lang , Yang Chang-Ping , Pan Yun-Feng , Li Heng-Xiang , Liu Shan , Xu Xiang-Rong 

TITLE=Microplastic prevalence in marine fish from onshore Beibu Gulf, South China Sea

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.964461

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2022.964461

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=In recent years, microplastics have been widely detected in marine fish and may pose potential risks to fish and human health. Even though microplastics pollution is a critical issue, it represents as yet non-quantified threat for some context in the marine environment. In this study, 271 individuals comprising 32 species of marine fish collected from the Beibu Gulf were examined for microplastics prevalence, with an aim to provide data on abundance, physical classification and chemical characterization of microplastics in the great bay along South China Sea. Results showed that an occurrence rate of microplastics was 93.7% and the average abundance of microplastics was 1.02 ± 0.18 items individual-1(ranged from 0.03 to 4.00 items individual-1). Microplastic accumulation was observed with a great variation in different species, body sizes, living habitats, and feeding habits of marine fishes. The dominant polymers identified by μ-FTIR were polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene (PP). Fibers, smaller sizes (<1 mm), and transparent color were the major characteristics for detected microplastics, which might be the important factors affecting the bioaccumulation. The present study revealed microplastics in marine fish is a widespread issue in onshore Beibu Gulf.