Examination of Microplastic Particles in Reef Fish Food in Ternate Island Waters, Indonesia

Abstract

Microplastics are pollutants, such as debris from human activities that contaminate several marine biotas and the environment. This research examined the occurrence of microplastic particles in the fish digestive tract in Ternate Island waters, Indonesia. The visual method carried out in the laboratory using a stereo microscope with a magnification of up to 40x was used to identify microplastics in the intestines and stomachs of fish. After observation, the pollutants were systematically counted in the range of 0.3-5 mm based on color, size, number, and shape. They were also classified into: 1) fragments, 2) films, 3) lines/fibers, 4) foams, and 5) pellets categories. Furthermore, six types of fishes including Epinephelus Fuscogutattus, Epinephelus coioides, Epinephelus suillus, Siganus canaliculatus, Synanceia, and Scarus Psittacus were collected from four sites, Kasturian, Kampung Makasar, Mangga dua, and Kalumata between August and September 2019. The results showed 183, represented by 83.18%, of the 220 reef fish individuals studied have ingested plastics. Moreover, a total of 594 plastic particles were found in the digestive tract of which 47.81% were fragments, 38.22% films, 2.69% foams, 2.36% fibers, 7.41% line, and 1.52% of 1.8 to 5 mm sized pellets. The color distribution in all locations include 46.80% transparent, 32.15% black, 5.56% pink, 6.06% yellow, 5.22% blue, and 4.21% red. The findings of this study provide the first evidence of microplastic contamination in reef fishes of the Ternate Island waters littoral zone -Indonesia.

Proximate Composition, Fatty Acid Profile, and Microplastic Contamination of Edible Odonate Larvae (Aeshnidae: Anax sp.) in Rice Fields

“…Microplastics (MPs) are an issue of concern as they can be found in the larvae that are consumed by humans. This is problematic because if these MPs enter the food chain, they have the potential to negatively impact both human health and the environment (Erren et al, 2013;Muhdhar et al, 2021;Kallenbach et al, 2022). Microplastics are all small plastic particles with rang size 1 μm to 5 mm (Hale et al, 2022).…”