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

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 164; p. 112000
• Main Authors: Wang, Duojia, Su, Lingcheng, Ruan, Huada Daniel, Chen, Jiajun, Lu, Jianzun, Lee, Chiu-Hong, Jiang, Sabrina Yanan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2021
• Subjects: Animals; cameras; China; coasts; color; Environmental Monitoring; Geologic Sediments; hydrogen peroxide; indicator species; light microscopy; marine pollution; Micro-ATR-FTIR; Microplastic; Microplastics; organic matter; Ostreidae; Oyster; oysters; Plastics; polyethylene; potassium hydroxide; Seawater; Sediment; sediments; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; China; Micro-ATR-FTIR; Sediment; Microplastic; Oyster; Seawater
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112000

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.