Microplastics in fish and fishmeal: an emerging environmental challenge?
Microplastics in fish and fishmeal: an emerging environmental challenge?
Microplastics are contaminants of emerging concern; they are ingested by marine biota. About a quarter of global marine fish landings is used to produce fishmeal for animal and aquaculture feed. To provide a knowledge foundation for this matrix we reviewed the existing literature for studies of microplastics in fishmeal-relevant species. 55% of studies were deemed unsuitable due to focus on large microplastics (> 1 mm), lack of, or limited contamination control and polymer testing techniques. Overall, fishmeal-relevant species exhibit 0.72 microplastics/individual, with studies generally only assessing digestive organs. We validated a density separation method for effectiveness of microplastic extraction from this medium and assessed two commercial products for microplastics. Recovery rates of a range of dosed microplastics from whitefish fishmeal samples were 71.3 ± 1.2%. Commercial samples contained 123.9 ± 16.5 microplastics per kg of fishmeal—mainly polyethylene—including 52.0 ± 14.0 microfibres—mainly rayon. Concentrations in processed fishmeal seem higher than in captured fish, suggesting potential augmentation during the production process. Based on conservative estimates, over 300 million microplastic particles (mostly < 1 mm) could be released annually to the oceans through marine aquaculture alone. Fishmeal is both a source of microplastics to the environment, and directly exposes organisms for human consumption to these particles.
Thiele, Christina Johanna
7119e77e-cc82-4ccc-b675-162aa8109491
Hudson, Malcolm
1ae18506-6f2a-48af-8c72-83ab28679f55
Russell, Andrea E.
b6b7c748-efc1-4d5d-8a7a-8e4b69396169
Saluveer, Marilin
9b0eab0e-5d42-4e32-9723-96a53f949e8e
Sidaoui-Haddad, Giovanna
dcff5597-bb5c-40da-b1c4-99b2ee62daff
21 January 2021
Thiele, Christina Johanna
7119e77e-cc82-4ccc-b675-162aa8109491
Hudson, Malcolm
1ae18506-6f2a-48af-8c72-83ab28679f55
Russell, Andrea E.
b6b7c748-efc1-4d5d-8a7a-8e4b69396169
Saluveer, Marilin
9b0eab0e-5d42-4e32-9723-96a53f949e8e
Sidaoui-Haddad, Giovanna
dcff5597-bb5c-40da-b1c4-99b2ee62daff
Thiele, Christina Johanna, Hudson, Malcolm, Russell, Andrea E., Saluveer, Marilin and Sidaoui-Haddad, Giovanna
(2021)
Microplastics in fish and fishmeal: an emerging environmental challenge?
Scientific Reports, 11 (1), [2045].
(doi:10.1038/s41598-021-81499-8).
Abstract
Microplastics are contaminants of emerging concern; they are ingested by marine biota. About a quarter of global marine fish landings is used to produce fishmeal for animal and aquaculture feed. To provide a knowledge foundation for this matrix we reviewed the existing literature for studies of microplastics in fishmeal-relevant species. 55% of studies were deemed unsuitable due to focus on large microplastics (> 1 mm), lack of, or limited contamination control and polymer testing techniques. Overall, fishmeal-relevant species exhibit 0.72 microplastics/individual, with studies generally only assessing digestive organs. We validated a density separation method for effectiveness of microplastic extraction from this medium and assessed two commercial products for microplastics. Recovery rates of a range of dosed microplastics from whitefish fishmeal samples were 71.3 ± 1.2%. Commercial samples contained 123.9 ± 16.5 microplastics per kg of fishmeal—mainly polyethylene—including 52.0 ± 14.0 microfibres—mainly rayon. Concentrations in processed fishmeal seem higher than in captured fish, suggesting potential augmentation during the production process. Based on conservative estimates, over 300 million microplastic particles (mostly < 1 mm) could be released annually to the oceans through marine aquaculture alone. Fishmeal is both a source of microplastics to the environment, and directly exposes organisms for human consumption to these particles.
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Author accepted manuscript_mps in fishmeal
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Accepted/In Press date: 7 January 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 21 January 2021
Published date: 21 January 2021
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Funding Information:
We would like to thank our laboratory technicians—especially Pilar Pascual-Hidalgo of the Faraday laboratory—for the support in executing this study. We are grateful to Professor David Coggon for providing feedback during the early stages of this manuscript. This work was supported by the EPSRC Doctoral Programme, a Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholarship, the University of Southampton Work Experience Scheme, and the Blue Marine Foundation, London, UK. The funding bodies did not have any involvement in this study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
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Local EPrints ID: 446119
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/446119
ISSN: 2045-2322
PURE UUID: 155892b9-23ed-41dd-bc70-ebc6bc820a28
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Date deposited: 21 Jan 2021 17:31
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:46
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Author:
Marilin Saluveer
Author:
Giovanna Sidaoui-Haddad
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