| Autor: |
Prata JC; Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal., Silva ALP; Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal., da Costa JP; Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal., Dias-Pereira P; Department of Pathology and Molecular Immunology, Institute for the Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, Porto University (ICBAS-UP), 4050-313 Porto, Portugal., Carvalho A; I3N & Physics Department, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal., Fernandes AJS; I3N & Physics Department, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal., da Costa FM; I3N & Physics Department, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal., Duarte AC; Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal., Rocha-Santos T; Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. |
| Abstrakt: |
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. |
