Microplastics in Internal Tissues of Companion Animals from Urban Environments
Joana C. Prata,
Ana L. Patrício Silva,
João P. da Costa,
Patrícia Dias-Pereira,
Alexandre Carvalho,
António José Silva Fernandes,
Florinda Mendes da Costa,
Armando C. Duarte,
Teresa Rocha-Santos
Affiliations
Joana C. Prata
Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Ana L. Patrício Silva
Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
João P. da Costa
Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Patrícia Dias-Pereira
Department of Pathology and Molecular Immunology, Institute for the Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, Porto University (ICBAS-UP), 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
Alexandre Carvalho
I3N & Physics Department, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
António José Silva Fernandes
I3N & Physics Department, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Florinda Mendes da Costa
I3N & Physics Department, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Armando C. Duarte
Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Teresa Rocha-Santos
Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
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.
