Macro and microplastic intake in seafood variates by the marine organism's feeding behaviour: Is it a concern to human health?
Lenin Cáceres-Farias,
María Mercedes Espinoza-Vera,
Jorge Orós,
Miguel Angel Garcia-Bereguiain,
Alonzo Alfaro-Núñez
Affiliations
Lenin Cáceres-Farias
AquaCEAL Corporation, Urb. Las Palmeras, Ave. Capitán Byron Palacios & General Quisquis, #8 EC230101, Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Ecuador; Grupo de Investigación en Biología y Cultivo de Moluscos, Departamento de Acuicultura, Pesca y Recursos Naturales Renovables, Facultad de Acuicultura y Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Técnica de Manabí, Calle Gonzalo Loor Velasco, Bahía de Caráquez EC131459, Ecuador
María Mercedes Espinoza-Vera
AquaCEAL Corporation, Urb. Las Palmeras, Ave. Capitán Byron Palacios & General Quisquis, #8 EC230101, Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Ecuador; Grupo de Investigación en Biología y Cultivo de Moluscos, Departamento de Acuicultura, Pesca y Recursos Naturales Renovables, Facultad de Acuicultura y Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Técnica de Manabí, Calle Gonzalo Loor Velasco, Bahía de Caráquez EC131459, Ecuador
Jorge Orós
Department of Morphology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain
Miguel Angel Garcia-Bereguiain
One Health Research Group, Universidad de las Américas, Quito, Ecuador; Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Latina de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica
Alonzo Alfaro-Núñez
Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Naestved Hospital, Ringstedgade 57a, 4700, Naestved, Denmark; Section for Evolutionary Genomics, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1353, Copenhagen K, Denmark; Corresponding author. Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Naestved Hospital, Ringstedgade 57a, 4700, Naestved, Denmark.
Seafood is considered one of the healthiest sources of food intake for humans, mainly because of its high protein content. However, oceans are among the most polluted environments, and microplastics have been widely reported to be ingested, absorbed or bioaccumulated by marine organisms. The different feeding behaviour may contribute to infer the amounts of microplastic particles accidently intake by marine organisms. We investigated the putative levels of microplastics in different edible species of fish, molluscs, and crustaceans. Plastic fragments larger than 200 μm were detected in the digestive tract of 277 out of 390 specimens (71.5 ± 22.2%) of the 26 different species analysed. There was no evidence of microplastic translocation or bioaccumulation in the muscle tissue of fish, molluscs, and crustaceans. Organisms with carnivorous feeding habits had the highest prevalence of plastic ingestion (79 ± 9.4%), followed by planktivorous species (74 ± 15.5%), and detritivorous species (38 ± 36.9%), suggesting a transfer through the food chain. Moreover, we found evidence that species with less selective feeding habits may be the most affected by the ingestion of large microplastic particles. Our results provide further evidence to the ubiquitous presence of microplastics in marine organisms representing a direct threat to marine wildlife, and to human health with potential consequences for future generations according to the One Health initiatives approach.
