The Quantity and Quality Assessment of Microplastics in the Freshwater Fishes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Publisher



Azizi N¹ ; Khoshnamvand N¹ ; Nasseri S^{1, 2} Show Affiliations
Source: Regional Studies in Marine Science Published:2021

Abstract

Microplastics are commonly known as water-insoluble solid polymers with less than 5 mm in size that can adversely affect the healthiness of organisms and humans. Regarding the increasing production of plastics, the present study aims to evaluate the quantity and quality of microplastics in freshwater fishes to provide better understanding of microplastic bioaccumulation and food chain contamination. 34 present eligible articles in all systematically reviewed microplastics abundance along with their composition, shape, or color in freshwater fishes for approximately one decade from 2010, which extracted from the main databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase. Based on the results, 64 species of freshwater fishes, which mainly lived in rivers, and the gastrointestinal track (GIT) most studied limb that were examined The microplastics abundance in the fishes’ bodies was between 0.153 and 40.880 items per fish. Furthermore, the most abundant microplastic compositions were polyethylene (15.9%) and polypropylene (8.2%) in fishes’ bodies, while fiber and fragment with 68.1% and 21% along with black (22.4%) and blue (21.3%) were the most abundant shapes and colors correspondingly. Moreover, the effluents of the sewage treatment plants coupled with fishing tools were recognized as the most important sources of the microplastics in aquatic environments. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.