TY - JOUR 
A1 - Bayo Bernal, Francisco Javier
AU - Rojo Campillo, Dolores
AU - Martínez Baños, Pedro
AU - López-Castellanos García, Joaquín
AU - Olmos Espinar, Sonia
T1 - Commercial gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.) from the Mar Menor coastal lagoon as hotspots of microplastic accumulation in the digestive system
Y1 - 2021
SN - 1660-4601
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10317/10163
AB - This paper presents the results on the presence and characterization of microplastics (MP) in the gastrointestinal tract of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.), a species of commercial interest from the Mar Menor coastal lagoon in Southeast Spain. This is the first time that microplastic ingestion is recorded in any species from this semi-enclosed bay. Stomach and intestine from a total of 17 specimens captured by local fishermen were processed, and microplastic particles and fibers found in all of them were displayed. Overall, 40.32% (279/692) of total isolated microparticles proved to be microplastics; i.e., <5 mm, as identified by FTIR spectroscopy. The average value by fish was 20.11 _ 2.94 MP kg􀀀1, corresponding to average concentrations of 3912.06 _ 791.24 and 1562.17 _ 402.04 MP by kg stomach and intestine, respectively. Four MP forms were isolated: fiber (71.68%), fragment (21.15%), film (6.81%), and microbead (0.36%), with sizes ranging from 91 _m to 5 mm, an average of 0.83 _ 0.04 mm, and no statistically significant differences between mean sizes in stomach and intestine samples (F-test = 0.004; p = 0.936). Nine polymer types were detected, although most of fibers remained unidentified because of their small size, the presence of polymer additives, or closely adhered pollutants despite the oxidizing digestion carried out to eliminate organic matter. No significant correlation was found between main biological parameters and ingested microplastics, and high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polyethylene polypropylene (PEP), and polyvinyl (PV) were identified as the most abundant polymers. The average microplastic ingestion in this study area was higher than those reported in most studies within the Mediterranean Sea, and closely related to microplastic pollution in the surrounding area, although with a predominance of fiber form mainly due to fishery activities.
KW - Tecnologías del Medio Ambiente
KW - Microplastic
KW - Ingestion
KW - Fish
KW - Gilthead seabream
KW - Mar Menor
KW - Marine pollution
KW - 3308 Ingeniería y Tecnología del Medio Ambiente
KW - 3206.11 Toxicidad de Los Alimentos
KW - 3308.11 Control de la Contaminación del Agua
LA - eng
PB - MDPI
ER -