Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Jan;174:113249. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113249. Epub 2021 Dec 22.
Microplastics have been found in fish, but most studies have focused on the digestive system without considering additional organs. Herein, the objective was to assess the presence of microplastics in internal organs (gills, guts, kidney, heart) of the Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) captured of the coast of Portugal (Northeast Atlantic Ocean). Suspected microplastics were present in all organs, with particles of larger size (i.e., equivalent diameter) found in the gut and those of lower size in the heart and its luminal blood. Suspected microplastics of 1-10 μm were the most abundant (65.4%), more likely to translocate, owing to their minute size, but more difficult to properly characterize. These results highlight the need to expand the analytical work on organs and tissues for assessing microplastics in organisms, but also emphasize the actual need for developing analytical methods that allow for an accurate isolation, identification, and characterization of microplastics in biota.
微塑料已在鱼类中被发现，但大多数研究都集中在消化系统上，而没有考虑其他器官。在此，我们的目的是评估葡萄牙沿海（东北大西洋）捕获的大西洋马鲛（Trachurus trachurus）的内部器官（鳃、内脏、肾脏、心脏）中微塑料的存在情况。在所有器官中都发现了疑似微塑料，其中肠道中的颗粒较大（即等效直径），而心脏及其腔血中的颗粒较小。1-10μm 的疑似微塑料最为丰富（占 65.4%），由于尺寸较小，更有可能迁移，但更难以正确描述。这些结果强调了需要扩大对器官和组织的分析工作，以评估生物体中的微塑料，但也强调了实际需要开发分析方法，以允许在生物群中准确分离、识别和描述微塑料。
