Microplastics in marine mammal blubber, melon, & other tissues: Evidence of translocation.

Autor: Merrill GB; Duke University Marine Lab, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, United States. Electronic address: gregory.merrill@duke.edu., Hermabessiere L; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada., Rochman CM; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada., Nowacek DP; Duke University Marine Lab, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, United States.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987) [Environ Pollut] 2023 Oct 15; Vol. 335, pp. 122252. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Aug 02.
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122252
Abstrakt: Marine mammals consume large quantities of microplastic particles, likely via trophic transfer (i.e., through prey who have consumed plastic) and direct consumption from seawater or sediment. Microplastics have been found in the stomachs, gastro-intestinal tracts, and feces of cetaceans and pinnipeds. Translocation of ingested microplastics has been documented in other organs of several aquatic species, but has not been examined in marine mammals. Marine mammals have highly specialized lipid-rich tissues which may increase susceptibility to lipophilic microplastics. Here we demonstrate the occurrence of microplastics, ranging in size, mass concentration, and particle count concentration from 24.4 μm - 1387 μm, 0.59 μg/g - 25.20 μg/g, and 0.04 - 0.39 particles/g, respectively, in four tissues (acoustic fat pad, blubber, lung, & melon) from twelve marine mammal species inclusive of mysticetes, odontocetes, and phocids. Twenty-two individuals were examined for microplastics using a combination of Raman spectroscopy and pyrolysis gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. Overall, 68% of individuals had at least one microplastic particle in at least one of the four tissue types, with the most common polymer and shape observed being polyethylene and fibers, respectively. These findings suggest some proportion of ingested microplastics translocate throughout marine mammal bodies posing an exposure risk to both marine mammals and people. For people, exposure could be directly through consumption for those who rely on marine mammals as food and indirectly to peoples globally who consume the same prey resources as marine mammals. Some individuals examined represent samples obtained over two decades ago, suggesting that this process, and thus exposure risk, has occurred for some time.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: