Microplastic Contamination of Three Commonly Consumed Seafood Species from Taiwan: A Pilot Study
1
Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing St., Taipei 110, Taiwan
2
National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Life Science Group, Hsinchu 30076, Taiwan
3
Department of Optics and Photonics, National Central University, Chung-Li 32001, Taiwan
4
Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Am Handelshafen 12, D-27570 Bremerhaven, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2020, 12(22), 9543; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229543
Received: 27 September 2020 / Revised: 11 November 2020 / Accepted: 11 November 2020 / Published: 17 November 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microplastics - Macro Challenge for Environmental Sustainability)
Microplastics have already been detected in various human foods, especially seafood. This problem should be especially pertinent to the Taiwanese public because a relatively high proportion of people’s diet comes from seafood. Therefore, a pilot study of microplastic contamination of seafood products commonly consumed by Taiwanese people is presented. Six batches of three seafood species were examined for the presence of microplastics using FTIR spectroscopy. A total of 107 seafood individuals from three species (hard clam Meretrix lusoria, oyster Crassostrea gigas, Loligo squid Loliginidae spp.) weighing a total of 994 g yielded a total of 100 microplastic particles consisting of nine different polymer types. The most common polymer types were polypropylene, poly(ethylene:propylene:diene), and polyethylene terephthalate; we also detected six additional, but less common polymer types. A total of 91% of microplastic particles were fragments that likely originated from fragmented plastic debris which was then consumed by the seafood species; the remaining particles were fibers and a pellet. The mean number of microplastics kg−1 was 87.9 microplastics kg−1 across the three examined species. Given that the Taiwanese public average about 10 kg of seafood consumption per year, a few thousand microplastic particles are estimated to be annually consumed on average. The methodology of this pilot study can now be used to conduct examinations of more seafood species and samples.
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Keywords:
food security; marine anthropogenic litter; microplastics; plastic pollution; seafood; Taiwan
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MDPI and ACS Style
Chen, J.Y.-S.; Lee, Y.-C.; Walther, B.A. Microplastic Contamination of Three Commonly Consumed Seafood Species from Taiwan: A Pilot Study. Sustainability 2020, 12, 9543. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229543
AMA Style
Chen JY-S, Lee Y-C, Walther BA. Microplastic Contamination of Three Commonly Consumed Seafood Species from Taiwan: A Pilot Study. Sustainability. 2020; 12(22):9543. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229543
Chicago/Turabian StyleChen, Jennifer Y.-S., Yao-Chang Lee, and Bruno A. Walther 2020. "Microplastic Contamination of Three Commonly Consumed Seafood Species from Taiwan: A Pilot Study" Sustainability 12, no. 22: 9543. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229543
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