E-resources
Peer reviewed
-
Białowąs, Marcin; Jonko-Sobuś, Karolina; Pawlak, Joanna; Polak-Juszczak, Lucyna; Dąbrowska, Agnieszka; Urban-Malinga, Barbara
The Science of the total environment, 05/2022, Volume: 822Journal Article
Plastic litter is widespread on our planet and is recognized as a contaminant of high concern. Plastic ingestion and retention in gills were studied in two key Baltic fish species: herring (Clupea harengus L.) and cod (Gadus morhua L.). In total, 183 fish from the southern Baltic Sea were analysed. Plastic litter was found in digestive tracts of 12.7 and 14.8% of herrings and cods, respectively. In addition, gills were shown to constitute an important transfer route of plastic to cod (9.9% of cods) but not to herring thus likely reflecting species-specific differences in fish lifestyles and/or water filtering capacity. No more than one plastic item per individual was found except for three fish with two items in their stomachs. Dominant microplastics (<5 mm) (MPs) (88.6% of all items) composed of irregular fragments, fibres and foils (61.3%, 25.8% and 12.9% of all MPs, respectively) were followed by meso- (5–25 mm) and macro-plastics (>25 mm) (5.7% each of all items). Plastic ingestion and retention in gills did not affect fish body condition assessed by Fulton's K index, although herrings that ingested plastic particles beyond the microplastic size range (i.e. >5 mm) were characterized by the lowest condition indices. All plastic items recovered from fish exhibited clear signs of weathering and surface extended due to their roughness and fragmentation which may enhance both sorption properties for chemical compounds and/or their leaching. Nevertheless, chemical contaminant levels in herring muscles were not different than in a plastic-free group. The vast majority of fibres found in fish was identified as air-borne or procedural contamination and were excluded from further analyses. In addition, the vessel's paint dust found in fish stressed the need for strict quality assurance also during fish sampling. Display omitted •Microplastics dominate over other plastic size fractions in fish stomachs and gills.•Similar plastic ingestion frequency in pelagic and demersal fish•Plastic retention on gills of demersal species•Body condition and contaminant levels unrelated to plastic occurrence in fish•Strict quality assurance during both laboratory and field work is needed.
Shelf entry
Permalink
- URL:
Impact factor
Access to the JCR database is permitted only to users from Slovenia. Your current IP address is not on the list of IP addresses with access permission, and authentication with the relevant AAI accout is required.
Year | Impact factor | Edition | Category | Classification | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
JCR | SNIP | JCR | SNIP | JCR | SNIP | JCR | SNIP |
Select the library membership card:
If the library membership card is not in the list,
add a new one.
DRS, in which the journal is indexed
Database name | Field | Year |
---|
Links to authors' personal bibliographies | Links to information on researchers in the SICRIS system |
---|
Source: Personal bibliographies
and: SICRIS
The material is available in full text. If you wish to order the material anyway, click the Continue button.