title: Microplastics and mesoplastics in fish from coastal and fresh waters of China.
abstract: Plastic pollution is a growing global concern. In the present study, we investigated plastic pollution in 21 species of sea fish and 6 species of freshwater fish from China. All of the species were found to ingest micro- or mesoplastics. The average abundance of microplastics varied from 1.1 to 7.2 items by individual and 0.2-17.2 items by gram. The average abundance of mesoplastics varied from 0.2 to 3.0 items by individual and 0.1-3.9 items by gram. Microplastics were abundant in 26 species, accounting for 55.9-92.3% of the total number of plastics items in each species. Thamnaconus septentrionalis contained the highest abundance of microplastics (7.2 items/individual). The average abundance of plastics in sea benthopelagic fishes was significantly higher than in freshwater benthopelagic fishes by items/individual. The plastics were dominanted by fiber in shape, transparent in color and cellophane in composition. The proportion of plastics in the stomach to the intestines showed great variation in different species, ranging from 0.5 to 1.9 by items/individual. The stomach of Harpodon nehereus and intestines of Pampus cinereus contained the highest number of plastics, (3.3) and (2.7), respectively, by items/individual. Our results suggested that plastic pollution was widespread in the investigated fish species and showed higher abundance in comparison with worldwide studies. The ingestion of plastics in fish was closely related to the habitat and gastrointestinal tract structure. We highly recommend that the entire gastrointestinal tract and digestion process be used in future investigations of plastic pollution in fish.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Khalida
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jabeen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Jiana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Dongqi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Chunfu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Division of Marine Chemistry, National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian 116023, China.
authors.forename: Jingli
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China. Electronic address: hhshi@des.ecnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Huahong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes; D005618:Fresh Water; D005766:Gastrointestinal Contents / Q000737:chemistry; D010473:Perciformes; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Fish; Ingestion; Marine debris; Mesoplastics; Microplastics