Microplastic pollution in water, sediment, and fish from artificial reefs around the Ma'an Archipelago, Shengsi, China.

Sci Total Environ

Institute of Marine Biology and Pharmacology, Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316021, Zhejiang, China; Key Laboratory of Health Risk Factors for Seafood of Zhejiang Province, Zhoushan 316021, Zhejiang, China; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541006, Guangxi, China. Electronic address:

Published: February 2020

In this study, the occurrence and distribution of microplastics in artificial reefs around the Ma'an Archipelago, a national marine ranching area in China, were investigated. The abundance of microplastics ranged from 0.2 ± 0.1 to 0.6 ± 0.2 items L in surface water, 30.0 ± 0.0 to 80.0 ± 14.1 items kg dry weight in the sediment, and 2.3 ± 1.5 to 7.3 ± 3.5 items individual in fish. Most of the detected microplastics were fiber-shaped, blue or transparent, and smaller than 1 mm. Polyethylene, polypropylene, and poly(ethylene:propylene:diene) copolymer were the most abundant polymer types in the surface water samples, whereas cellophane was dominant in the sediment and fish. The appearance of microplastic pollution around the artificial reefs could be attributed mainly to the activities of the fisheries in the area, whereas the microplastic ingestion by fish was affected by the extent of microplastic contamination of the sediment. The results highlight the widespread presence of microplastics in the water, sediment, and biota of the artificial reefs around the Ma'an Archipelago, thereby improving understanding of the environmental risks posed by microplastics to marine artificial reef ecosystems and fisheries in general.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134768DOI Listing

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