Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, 53100, Rize, Türkiye.
Department of Chemical and Chemical Processing Technologies, Vocational School of Technical Sciences, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, 53100, Rize, Türkiye.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2024 Sep;31(44):55974-55983. doi: 10.1007/s11356-024-34927-x. Epub 2024 Sep 9.
Microplastics (MPs), tiny plastic particles less than 5 mm in size, have emerged as a common and worrying pollutant in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments worldwide. In this study, we revealed the microplastic exposure of two endemic newt species for Türkiye. We found that polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was the predominant microplastic polymer type in both species, with the blue fiber shape in particular. We also found that there was a negative correlation between microplastic size and gastrointestinal tract (GIT) weight, but there was no significant difference between body length and GIT weight of both species. Our findings might be surprising as the studied species live in natural spring waters in remote, high-altitude areas. However, the detection of water bottles in their habitats appears to be the reason for their exposure to microplastic pollution. Therefore, reducing the use of single-use plastics is predicted to contribute to the conservation of these endemic newts.
微塑料（MPs）是一种小于 5 毫米的微小塑料颗粒，已成为全球海洋、淡水和陆地环境中一种常见且令人担忧的污染物。在这项研究中，我们揭示了土耳其两种特有蝾螈物种的微塑料暴露情况。我们发现，聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（PET）是这两个物种中主要的微塑料聚合物类型，尤其是蓝色纤维形状。我们还发现，微塑料尺寸与胃肠道（GIT）重量之间存在负相关关系，但两个物种的体长与 GIT 重量之间没有显著差异。我们的研究结果可能令人惊讶，因为研究的物种生活在偏远高海拔地区的天然泉水中。然而，在它们的栖息地中发现水瓶似乎是它们暴露于微塑料污染的原因。因此，减少一次性塑料的使用预计将有助于保护这些特有蝾螈。
