Investigating microplastic contamination and biomagnification in a remote area of South Australia
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(Published version)
Date
2023
Authors
Ogunola, S.O.
Reis-Santos, P.
Wootton, N.
Gillanders, B.M.
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Pitt, K.
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Journal article
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Marine and Freshwater Research, 2023; 74(11):917-927
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Solomon O. Ogunola, Patrick Reis-Santos, Nina Wootton and Bronwyn M. Gillanders
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Abstract
Context. Microplastics are widespread in aquatic ecosystems and are commonly recorded in water, sediment and a broad spectrum of marine biota. Yet, the extent to which organisms ingest microplastics directly or indirectly by trophic transfer is largely unknown. Aims. This study characterises microplastic abundance across intertidal water, sediment, and marine biota species of different trophic levels, and investigates whether biomagnification occurs. Methods. Water, sediment, molluscs, crustaceans and fish were sampled from a single area in southern Australia. Key results. Microplastics were recorded in 35% of water, 45% of sediment and 39% of biota samples. Plastic load was 0.36 ± 0.08 microplastics g(-1) DW for sediment, 0.50 ± 0.17 microplastics L(−1) for water, and 0.70 ± 0.25 microplastics individual(−1) for biota. Biomagnification was not found, although similarities in plastic characteristics across biota may imply trophic transfer. Most of the microplastics were fibres (97.5%) of blue, black and transparent colour. Spectral analysis (μ-FTIR) indicated that polyester (50%) and polyethylene (42.3%) dominated the polymer compositions. Conclusions. There were no significant differences in microplastic contamination among biota species, with no biomagnification identified. Implications. We provide information on biomagnification of microplastics alongside a still uncommon characterisation of contamination in water, sediment and biota.
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Published: 8 June 2023
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© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Non Derivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND). OPEN ACCESS