Fisheries Research Station Baden-Württemberg, Argenweg 50/1, 88085 Langenargen, Germany; University of Konstanz, Mainaustraße 252, 78464 Konstanz, Germany.
Fisheries Research Station Baden-Württemberg, Argenweg 50/1, 88085 Langenargen, Germany.
Sci Total Environ. 2019 Nov 1;689:1001-1011. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.06.404. Epub 2019 Jun 25.
In a comprehensive study of microplastic contamination in southern Germany, 1167 individual fish of 22 different species were sampled from 11 rivers and 6 lakes across the state. The microplastic burden of investigated fish was analyzed on the basis of habitat type, location, and a number of abiotic and biotic factors. A particle size distribution analysis of the detected microplastics was carried out. The results showed a relatively low plastic prevalence of 18.8%, with significant differences between rivers (20.6%) and lakes (16.5%). The number of ingested plastic particles ranged between 1 and 4 particles per fish. The majority of abiotic and biotic factors seem to play little or no role in the ingestion of microplastics, suggesting that in most cases uptake is passive or accidental. It is notable that piscivorous fish appeared significantly less burdened, suggesting a low transfer rate and no accumulation in the food web. However, size distribution analysis identified a power law growth fit in particle numbers at the smallest end of the distribution. This carries a worrying implication, that >95% of particles are likely to be smaller than 40 μm and thereby beyond the detection range of this and most other microplastic surveys conducted so far. When the frequency development of small particles is taken into account, the likely microplastic prevalence in the present study increases to 100%, with an average intensity of around 23 predominantly small particles per fish. A striking 70% of those particles would be smaller than 5 μm and therefore eligible for translocation into tissues, with critical implications for fish health and consumer exposure. This raises a question as to whether current estimates of microplastic burden in fishes generally might be overlooking a majority of potential contamination within the critical smaller particle size classes.
在对德国南部的微塑料污染进行的一项综合研究中，从该州的 11 条河流和 6 个湖泊中采集了 22 种不同鱼类的 1167 条个体鱼。根据栖息地类型、位置以及一些非生物和生物因素，对所研究鱼类的微塑料负担进行了分析。对检测到的微塑料进行了粒径分布分析。结果显示，塑料的流行率相对较低，为 18.8%，河流（20.6%）和湖泊（16.5%）之间存在显著差异。每条鱼摄入的塑料颗粒数在 1 到 4 个之间。大多数非生物和生物因素似乎在微塑料的摄入中作用不大或没有作用，这表明在大多数情况下，摄入是被动或偶然的。值得注意的是，肉食性鱼类的负担明显较轻，这表明转移率低，在食物网中没有积累。然而，粒径分布分析表明，在分布的最小端存在幂律增长拟合。这意味着一个令人担忧的情况，即 >95%的颗粒可能小于 40 μm，因此超出了迄今为止进行的这种和大多数其他微塑料调查的检测范围。当考虑小颗粒的频率发展时，本研究中微塑料的可能流行率增加到 100%，平均每条鱼约有 23 个主要是小颗粒，强度约为 23。其中 70%的颗粒将小于 5 μm，因此有资格转移到组织中，这对鱼类健康和消费者暴露具有重要影响。这就提出了一个问题，即目前对鱼类中微塑料负担的估计是否可能忽视了关键较小粒径类别的大多数潜在污染。
