Microplastic uptake in commercial fishes from the Bohai Sea, China
Abstract
Microplastic (MP) pollution has become an emerging global concern in marine environments, but research on the uptake of MPs by commercial marine fish is relatively sparse. In this study, 29 commercial fish species (n = 584) with different feeding habits and trophic levels were collected from 8 sites along the Bohai Sea for MP uptake analysis. Approximately 85.4% of the total fish among all species ingested MPs, and there was an average abundance of 2.14 items/individual or 0.043 items/g of wet weight. Compared with other studies, MP pollution in fishes from the Bohai Sea was relatively moderate. The MPs were predominantly fibrous in shape and were cellophane, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene (PP) in polymer composition. The highest abundance and polymer composition of MPs was observed in benthivores, suggesting that they might ingest these MPs from their food. The small fish Konosirus punctatus, which had a high level of MPs, may increase the risk of human exposure to the MPs when it is dried and consumed. Moreover, the spatial variation of MPs was determined in terms of abundance, shape composition, and major polymer types, but there was no marked relationship between MP abundance and the trophic levels of fish. Overall, this study provides a basis for the ecological risk assessment of MPs in fish and for a health risk assessment for human beings.
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Microplastic particles accumulate on the seabed, facilitating microbial proliferation and biofilm development, which enhances the breakdown of microplastics by marine microorganisms.
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From Harnessing bacterial consortia for effective bioremediation: targeted removal of heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and persistent pollutants (2025) · cites this paper as Wang et al. 2020
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- Authors
- Wang, Q., Zhu, X., Hou, C., Wu, Y., Teng, J., Zhang, C., Tan, H., Shan, E., Zhang, W., & Zhao, J.
- Affiliations
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Harbin Institute of Technology (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Zhao, Jianmin
- Venue
- Chemosphere
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-01
- Volume
- 263
- Pages
- 127962
- ISSN
- 0045-6535 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3058868328
- Cited by
- 149
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 4.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Chemosphere (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Knowledge Repository of Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, CAS (Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA23050303)
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2016196)
- National Key Research and Development Program of China (2019YFD0901101)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (41576122)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Keywords
- microplastics, microplastic ingestion, commercial fish species, Bohai Sea, benthivorous fish, Konosirus punctatus, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, cellophane, spatial variability, human health risk, environmental risk assessment, marine plastic pollution
- MeSH terms
- Microplastics, Animals, China, Environmental Monitoring, Environmental Pollution, Fishes, Humans, Plastics, Water Pollutants, Chemical
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