Microplastics in Internal Tissues of Companion Animals from Urban Environments

• Published in: Animals (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 15; p. 1979
• Main Authors: Prata, Joana C., Silva, Ana L. Patrício, da Costa, João P., Dias-Pereira, Patrícia, Carvalho, Alexandre, Fernandes, António José Silva, da Costa, Florinda Mendes, Duarte, Armando C., Rocha-Santos, Teresa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 04.08.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Analytical methods; Animal tissues; Animals; Anthropogenic factors; Blood clots; Blood coagulation; Cats; Contaminants; Dogs; Ileum; Internalization; Liver; Metropolitan areas; Microplastics; microplastics in biota; Nile Red; pets; Plastic pollution; Polyethylene; Polyethylene terephthalate; Polymers; Raman spectroscopy; small animals; Small intestine; Urban areas; Urban environments; Vertebrates; United States > US; Japan; Germany
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani12151979

Companion animals living in urban areas are exposed to environmental contaminants, which may include microplastics. A preliminary study was conducted by collecting postmortem samples from the internal tissue (lungs, ileum, liver, kidney, and blood clots) of 25 dogs (Canis familiaris) and 24 cats (Felis catus) living in an urban environment in Porto metropolitan area, Portugal. Suspected microplastics were found in 80 samples from 35 animals (18 cats and 17 dogs), often occurring in more than one tissue of the same animal (71.4%), primarily under small sizes (50.3% as 1–10 µm). Micro-Raman spectroscopy confirmed a fraction of particles as common polymer types (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate). However, the number of particles was very low. This study highlights the possibilities of the internalization and distribution of microplastics in the internal tissues of terrestrial vertebrates.