Rapid and Efficient Method for the Detection of Microplastic in the Gastrointestinal Tract of Fishes

Abstract

The rising evidence of microplastic pollution impacts on aquatic organisms in both marine and freshwater ecosystems highlights a pressing need for adequate and comparable detection methods. Available tissue digestion protocols are time-consuming (>10 h) and/or require several procedural steps, during which materials can be lost and contaminants introduced. This novel approach comprises an accelerated digestion step using sodium hydroxide and nitric acid in combination to digest all organic material within 1 h plus an additional separation step using sodium iodide which can be used to reduce mineral residues in samples where necessary. This method yielded a microplastic recovery rate of ≥95%, and all tested polymer types were recovered with only minor changes in weight, size, and color with the exception of polyamide. The method was also shown to be effective on field samples from two benthic freshwater fish species, revealing a microplastic burden comparable to that indicated in the literature. As a consequence, the present method saves time, minimizes the loss of material and the risk of contamination, and facilitates the identification of plastic particles and fibers, thus providing an efficient method to detect and quantify microplastics in the gastrointestinal tract of fishes.