Dataset Information

Anthropogenic debris in seafood: Plastic debris and fibers from textiles in fish and bivalves sold for human consumption.

ABSTRACT: The ubiquity of anthropogenic debris in hundreds of species of wildlife and the toxicity of chemicals associated with it has begun to raise concerns regarding the presence of anthropogenic debris in seafood. We assessed the presence of anthropogenic debris in fishes and shellfish on sale for human consumption. We sampled from markets in Makassar, Indonesia, and from California, USA. All fish and shellfish were identified to species where possible. Anthropogenic debris was extracted from the digestive tracts of fish and whole shellfish using a 10% KOH solution and quantified under a dissecting microscope. In Indonesia, anthropogenic debris was found in 28% of individual fish and in 55% of all species. Similarly, in the USA, anthropogenic debris was found in 25% of individual fish and in 67% of all species. Anthropogenic debris was also found in 33% of individual shellfish sampled. All of the anthropogenic debris recovered from fish in Indonesia was plastic, whereas anthropogenic debris recovered from fish in the USA was primarily fibers. Variations in debris types likely reflect different sources and waste management strategies between countries. We report some of the first findings of plastic debris in fishes directly sold for human consumption raising concerns regarding human health.

SUBMITTER: Rochman CM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4585829 | biostudies-other | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Anthropogenic debris in seafood: Plastic debris and fibers from textiles in fish and bivalves sold for human consumption.

Rochman Chelsea M CM Tahir Akbar A Williams Susan L SL Baxa Dolores V DV Lam Rosalyn R Miller Jeffrey T JT Teh Foo-Ching FC Werorilangi Shinta S Teh Swee J SJ

Scientific reports 20150924

The ubiquity of anthropogenic debris in hundreds of species of wildlife and the toxicity of chemicals associated with it has begun to raise concerns regarding the presence of anthropogenic debris in seafood. We assessed the presence of anthropogenic debris in fishes and shellfish on sale for human consumption. We sampled from markets in Makassar, Indonesia, and from California, USA. All fish and shellfish were identified to species where possible. Anthropogenic debris was extracted from the dige ...[more]

PMID: 26399762

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Project description:BackgroundAgricultural plastic mulches offer great benefits such as higher yields and lower pesticide use. Yet, plastic mulches may disintegrate over time and fragment into smaller debris. Such plastic debris is expected to remain in the field after removal of the plastic mulch and thus contributes to soil contamination with plastics.MethodTo investigate this, we collected soil samples at 0-10 cm and 10-40 cm depth from three fields covered with black mulch film for three consecutive years. Three fields without any reported plastic use served as control. Visual plastic debris > 1 cm (macroplastics) was collected from the soil surface. Mesoplastics between 2 mm and 1 cm were density separated from the sampled soil using saturated NaCl solution and analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Debris ≤ 2 mm (microplastics) was dispersed from 50 g soil using sodium hexametaphosphate solution followed by the aforementioned density separation. The separated polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) were quantified via solvent-based pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS).ResultsWith 89-206 fragments ha-1, the majority of macroplastics were located in fields previously covered with mulch films. 80% of the collected specimen were identified as black PE film. The number of mesoplastics in plastic-mulched soil was 2.3 particles kg-1, while only 1.0 particles kg-1 were found in the reference fields. Py-GC/MS revealed microplastic levels of up to 13 mg kg-1. The PE content was significantly higher in plastic-mulched fields than in reference fields.DiscussionAlthough the identified plastic levels are lower than those reported in comparable studies, our results still suggest that plastic mulching functions as a source of plastic debris in agricultural systems. Due to its severely restricted degradability, these plastics are likely to accumulate in soil in the long term and further fragment into smaller and smaller debris.

Dataset Information

Anthropogenic debris in seafood: Plastic debris and fibers from textiles in fish and bivalves sold for human consumption.

Publications

Anthropogenic debris in seafood: Plastic debris and fibers from textiles in fish and bivalves sold for human consumption.

Similar Datasets

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