Microplastics in fishes from the Northern Bay of Bengal

M Shahadat Hossain; Faisal Sobhan; Mohammad Nasir Uddin; S M Sharifuzzaman; Sayedur Rahman Chowdhury; Subrata Sarker; M Shah Nawaz Chowdhury

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.065

Microplastics in fishes from the Northern Bay of Bengal

Sci Total Environ. 2019 Nov 10:690:821-830. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.065. Epub 2019 Jul 5.

Authors

M Shahadat Hossain¹, Faisal Sobhan², Mohammad Nasir Uddin³, S M Sharifuzzaman⁴, Sayedur Rahman Chowdhury⁵, Subrata Sarker⁶, M Shah Nawaz Chowdhury⁷

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Chittagong, Chittagong 4331, Bangladesh. Electronic address: hossainms@yahoo.com.
² Department of Oceanography, University of Chittagong, Chittagong 4331, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Chemistry, University of Chittagong, Chittagong 4331, Bangladesh.
⁴ Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Chittagong, Chittagong 4331, Bangladesh. Electronic address: sharifuzzaman@cu.ac.bd.
⁵ Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Chittagong, Chittagong 4331, Bangladesh.
⁶ Department of Oceanography, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, Bangladesh.
⁷ Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Chittagong, Chittagong 4331, Bangladesh. Electronic address: msnchowdhury@cu.ac.bd.

PMID: 31302547
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.065

Abstract

Microplastics were determined in pink Bombay-duck (Harpadon nehereus), white Bombay-duck (H. translucens) and gold-stripe sardine (Sardinella gibbosa) collected from the Northern Bay of Bengal at Bangladesh. Gastrointestinal tracts of fishes (n = 25 per species) were examined for microplastics following alkali digestion protocol, microscopic observations and chemical analysis by micro-Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscope (μ-FTIR). A total of 443 microplastic items were found in the intestines of H. nehereus, H. translucens and S. gibbosa, averaging in the range of 3.20-8.72 items per species. Among various shapes, colours and types of microplastics, irregular (37-43%), white/transparent (26-68%) and fiber (50-55%) were dominant. The size fraction of microplastics ranging between 1 μm and 5 mm was 68-84 items/kg biomass, and μ-FTIR analysis identified 13 particles of polyethylene terephthalate and 66 particles of polyamide. The study findings raised concern that microplastics in marine fish could be a threat to public health via the food chain.

Keywords: Bangladesh; Bay of Bengal; Bombay-duck; Microplastic; Sardine; μFTIR.

MeSH terms

Animals
Bangladesh
Environmental Monitoring*
Fishes / metabolism*
Food Chain
Plastics / analysis
Plastics / metabolism*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis
Water Pollutants, Chemical / metabolism*

Substances

Plastics
Water Pollutants, Chemical