Correlation of Water Quality with Microplastic Exposure Prevalence in Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Abstract

The highly use of polyethylene plastics in Indonesia has negative impact toward freshwater aquaculture systems. Omnivorous fish is one of the freshwater biota that exposed by microplastics. This study aims to determine the effect of microplastics to water quality and the prevalence of microplastic exposure in tilapia. The experimental design is conducted using a microplastic exposure (polyethylene scrub) with concentration of 0.01 g/L (P1), 0.1 g/L (P2), and 1 g/L (P3). Each treatment is repeated 3 times. The organ groups observed are the gastrointestinal, liver, gills, and gonads. The stages of the research including fish raising, microplastic extraction, water quality measuring parameter, and counting the amount of microplastics. The result obtained for water quality parameter is temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen still within safe fish farming limit. Microplastics at high concentration in water can cause a decrease in the total value of ammonia and do not affect the value of water temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen. Microplastics are found in the digestive organs, liver, gills, and gonads. The digestive tract of tilapia is the organ with the most microplastics after 14 days of exposure. It is concluded that microplastic is harmful for the life of tilapia because it can absorb to the liver and gonads.