Quantitative and qualitative determination of microplastics in oyster, seawater and sediment from the coastal areas in Zhuhai, China

Microplastics as a new class of environmental contaminants have become the hot issue of global concern. We conducted quantitative and qualitative experiments to investigate microplastics in oyster, seawater and sediment along the Zhuhai coastline. The soft tissues of oysters were digested with potas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2021-03, Vol.164, p.112000, Article 112000
Main Authors: Wang, Duojia, Su, Lingcheng, Ruan, Huada Daniel, Chen, Jiajun, Lu, Jianzun, Lee, Chiu-Hong, Jiang, Sabrina Yanan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
China
Environmental Monitoring
Geologic Sediments
Micro-ATR-FTIR
Microplastic
Microplastics
Ostreidae
Oyster
Plastics
Seawater
Sediment
Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis
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Summary:Microplastics as a new class of environmental contaminants have become the hot issue of global concern. We conducted quantitative and qualitative experiments to investigate microplastics in oyster, seawater and sediment along the Zhuhai coastline. The soft tissues of oysters were digested with potassium hydroxide (10%) and hydrogen peroxide (30%), seawaters and sediments with hydrogen peroxide (30%) to degrade organic matter, and analyzed using a digital camera, optical microscopy and micro-ATR-FTIR. The abundance of microplastics were in the range of 0.14–7.90 n/g in oysters (wet weight), 10.00–27.50 n/L in seawaters and 0.053–0.26 n/g in sediments. The fiber and fragment shape, black color, 101–500 μm of size and polyethylene composition were all classified as the major constituents of microplastics. The level of contaminants in oysters was correlated to those in their surrounding environments. Therefore, oysters may serve as a promising sentinel species for the indication of microplastic pollution in the coastal zone of Zhuhai. [Display omitted] •Microplastics are found in oysters, sediments and seawaters from Zhuhai.•About 83% of microplastics in samples were identified as plastic materials.•Fiber is the most dominant shape in the identified microplastics.•The level of microplastics in oysters is positively correlated to those in seawaters.•Oyster may serve as an indicator of microplastic pollution in marine environment.
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112000