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Updated: Oct 16, 2025
Protocol for Microplastics Sampling on the Sea Surface and Sample Analysis
Published on: December 16, 2016
Microplastics in fishes from an estuary (Minho River) ending into the NE Atlantic Ocean
Lúcia Guilhermino1, Alexandra Martins1, Clara Lopes2
1ICBAS, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, Department of Populations Study, Laboratory of Ecotoxicology and Ecology, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; CIIMAR, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Research Line Global Changes and Ecosystem Services, Avenida General Norton de Matos, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal.
Abstract:
Wild fish (Cyprinus carpio, Mugil cephalus, Platichthys flesus) from an estuary of the NE Atlantic coast were investigated for plastic contamination (N = 128). From the 1289 particles recovered from fish samples, 883 were plastics. Among these, 84% were fibres and 97% were microplastics. Thirty-six polymers were identified. The number of microplastics (mean ± SD) per individual fish (MP/fish) was 8 ± 6 in C. carpio, 10 ± 9 in M. cephalus and 2 ± 2 in P. flesus. The means of MP/fish per body site were 6 ± 7 in gastrointestinal tract, 0.5 ± 1.1 in gills, 0.3 ± 0.7 in liver and 0.6 ± 1.2 in muscle samples. A few large fibres in liver (≤ 4841 μm) and muscle (≤ 5810 μm) samples were found. The results evidence the existence of high fish contamination by microplastics and reinforce the need of further research on plastic pollution in estuaries.
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