AUTHOR=Zhang Qinzhou , Xie Jia , Ma Siyuan , Chen Yingya , Lin Fang , Diao Xiaoping 

TITLE=Occurrenceand characteristics of microplastics in benthic species from mangrove wetlands of Hainan, South China

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.965059

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2023.965059

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=Microplastics (MPs) are emerging contaminants that pose a global threat to the environment. Mangrove ecosystems, which contribute to biogeochemical cycles, are vulnerable to various anthropogenic disturbances and chemical pollutants. In this study, MP abundance and characteristics were investigated in 10 species of benthic organisms, including crabs, bivalves, and snails, from 7 typical mangrove distribution areas, with a total of 15 sampling sites in Hainan, South China. The abundance of MPs in each sampling site ranged between 0.83 ± 1.32 and 12.00 ± 0.00 items/individual with an average abundance of 3.90 ± 3.31 items/individual, and the abundance of MPs varied between 0.17 to 2.00 items/individual for different species. Fibers (80.13%) were the most abundant MPs, most MPs were brown (37.18%) or blue (26.64%), and more than 80% were small-sized plastic (< 2000 µm). Raman analysis showed that polypropylene (94.44%) was the most dominant type of polymer. Additionally, crabs (with an average of 1.10 ± 0.59 items/individual) had a higher potential for accumulating MPs than the other species investigated in the present study. Our study showed that MPs were widely distributed throughout benthic species in the Hainan mangrove wetland.