76
T. A. Aragaw and B. A. Mekonnen
Female fish exhibited an affinity to ingest more MPs than male fish. The mainstream polymers constituted 25.7% PS, 10.1% rayon, 7.3% polyamide, and 5.5%
PP. Particularly, polyester and rayon with fibers shape appeared greater than 70% of
the wetland area, the other bodies of fish have more MPs than heads. Whereas the
MPs identified in heads were lesser in size than those contained in another body of
fishes [34].
In another freshwater system, the occurrence and distribution of MPs in water,
sediments, and wild fish were investigated in the largest freshwater Poyang Lake,
China [35]. The concentration of MPs <0.5 mm found 5–34 items/L in surface
waters, 54–506 items/kg in sediments, and 0–18 items/individual in wild crucians
(Carassius auratus). The majority of the identified polymer types were found PP
and PE with predominant characteristics of fibrous MPs. These results confirmed
the widespread occurrence of MPs in water, sediment, and biota of the Poyang
Lake which will provide an insight for MPs contamination in inland freshwater
systems [35]. Similarly, MPs pollution source and distribution were studied in the
largest inland Qinghai Lake, China [36]. In the study area, MPs were discovered
with abundance ranges 0.05 × 10
5 –7.58 × 10
5 items/km
2 in the lake, 0.03 × 10
5 –
0.31 × 10
5 items/km
2 in the rivers, 50–1292 items/m
2 in the lakeshore sediment,
and 2–15 items per individual in the fish samples. PE and PP were detected as a
predominant polymer in Qinghai Lake. Moreover, the majority of MPs size were
small MPs (0.1–0.5 mm) in the lake while large MPs (1–5 mm) are abundant in
the river samples. Additionally, MPs were mostly sheet and fiber characters in the
lake and river water unlike in the lakeshore sediment samples [36]. Bessa et al. [37]
evaluated the occurrence of MPs in three commercial fish species (Dicentrarchus
labrax, Diplodus Vulgaris, and Platichthys flesus) in Mondego estuary, Portugal
[37]. In light of the evaluation, an aggregate of 38% fish species had ingested MPs
with an average of 1.67 ± 0.27 particles per fish, the FTIR result also identified
polyester, polypropylene, and rayon as the principal polymers found in commercial
fish species. In terms of polymer shape, 96% of MPs found in the fishes were fibers
followed by fragments (4%) and occurred in diverse size fractions with varying
quantity. Whereas, ingested MPs color distribution was uniform throughout all fish
species being mostly blue color (47%), transparent (30%), and black (11%). On
the other hand, extra colors comprising red, yellow, and green were less frequently
observed in the studied fish species [37].
Further to the ingestion of MPs, rivers are involved as major pathways of MPs
transport to marine and lake ecosystems. For this evidences, McNeish et al. [38]
studied MPs pollution in river food chains in connections to species feeding behavior
from three major tributaries of Lake Michigan, USA. Accordingly, the MPs <1.5 mm
in fish with a concentration of 10 (± 2.3) to 13 (± 1.6) particles per fish were reported.
Fibers comprised about 97–100% of all MPs found in the water and fish. Fragments
comprised the remaining 0–3% of MPs collected from water from the major tributaries of the lake and 0–3% in the fish. In contrast, fiber color patterns were similar in
fish across sites, with clear and blue fibers predominant MPs size <1.5 mm size found
across water samples and fish. This indicated that MPs litter is obvious in river food
webs from point-source in addition to diffuse sources into aquatic ecosystems [38].
T. A. Aragaw and B. A. Mekonnen
Female fish exhibited an affinity to ingest more MPs than male fish. The mainstream polymers constituted 25.7% PS, 10.1% rayon, 7.3% polyamide, and 5.5%
PP. Particularly, polyester and rayon with fibers shape appeared greater than 70% of
the wetland area, the other bodies of fish have more MPs than heads. Whereas the
MPs identified in heads were lesser in size than those contained in another body of
fishes [34].
In another freshwater system, the occurrence and distribution of MPs in water,
sediments, and wild fish were investigated in the largest freshwater Poyang Lake,
China [35]. The concentration of MPs <0.5 mm found 5–34 items/L in surface
waters, 54–506 items/kg in sediments, and 0–18 items/individual in wild crucians
(Carassius auratus). The majority of the identified polymer types were found PP
and PE with predominant characteristics of fibrous MPs. These results confirmed
the widespread occurrence of MPs in water, sediment, and biota of the Poyang
Lake which will provide an insight for MPs contamination in inland freshwater
systems [35]. Similarly, MPs pollution source and distribution were studied in the
largest inland Qinghai Lake, China [36]. In the study area, MPs were discovered
with abundance ranges 0.05 × 10
5 –7.58 × 10
5 items/km
2 in the lake, 0.03 × 10
5 –
0.31 × 10
5 items/km
2 in the rivers, 50–1292 items/m
2 in the lakeshore sediment,
and 2–15 items per individual in the fish samples. PE and PP were detected as a
predominant polymer in Qinghai Lake. Moreover, the majority of MPs size were
small MPs (0.1–0.5 mm) in the lake while large MPs (1–5 mm) are abundant in
the river samples. Additionally, MPs were mostly sheet and fiber characters in the
lake and river water unlike in the lakeshore sediment samples [36]. Bessa et al. [37]
evaluated the occurrence of MPs in three commercial fish species (Dicentrarchus
labrax, Diplodus Vulgaris, and Platichthys flesus) in Mondego estuary, Portugal
[37]. In light of the evaluation, an aggregate of 38% fish species had ingested MPs
with an average of 1.67 ± 0.27 particles per fish, the FTIR result also identified
polyester, polypropylene, and rayon as the principal polymers found in commercial
fish species. In terms of polymer shape, 96% of MPs found in the fishes were fibers
followed by fragments (4%) and occurred in diverse size fractions with varying
quantity. Whereas, ingested MPs color distribution was uniform throughout all fish
species being mostly blue color (47%), transparent (30%), and black (11%). On
the other hand, extra colors comprising red, yellow, and green were less frequently
observed in the studied fish species [37].
Further to the ingestion of MPs, rivers are involved as major pathways of MPs
transport to marine and lake ecosystems. For this evidences, McNeish et al. [38]
studied MPs pollution in river food chains in connections to species feeding behavior
from three major tributaries of Lake Michigan, USA. Accordingly, the MPs <1.5 mm
in fish with a concentration of 10 (± 2.3) to 13 (± 1.6) particles per fish were reported.
Fibers comprised about 97–100% of all MPs found in the water and fish. Fragments
comprised the remaining 0–3% of MPs collected from water from the major tributaries of the lake and 0–3% in the fish. In contrast, fiber color patterns were similar in
fish across sites, with clear and blue fibers predominant MPs size <1.5 mm size found
across water samples and fish. This indicated that MPs litter is obvious in river food
webs from point-source in addition to diffuse sources into aquatic ecosystems [38].