Effective and easy to use extraction method shows low numbers of microplastics in offshore planktivorous fish from the northern Baltic Sea

Budimir, Stjepan; Setälä, Outi; Lehtiniemi, Maiju

Effective and easy to use extraction method shows low numbers of microplastics in offshore planktivorous fish from the northern Baltic Sea

2018

Budimir, Stjepan | Setälä, Outi | Lehtiniemi, Maiju

Although the presence of microplastics in marine biota has been widely recorded, extraction methods, method validation and approaches to monitoring are not standardized. In this study a method for microplastic extraction from fish guts based on a chemical alkaline digestion is presented. The average particle retrieval rate from spiked fish guts, used for method validation, was 84%. The weight and shape of the test particles (PET, PC, HD-PE) were also analysed with no noticeable changes in any particle shapes and only minor weight change in PET (2.63%). Microplastics were found in 1.8% of herrings (n=164) and in 0.9% of sprat (n=154). None of the three-spined sticklebacks (n=355) contained microplastic particles.

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