First evidence of presence of plastic debris in stomach of large pelagic fish in the Mediterranean Sea

Teresa Romeo; Battaglia Pietro; Cristina Pedà; Pierpaolo Consoli; Franco Andaloro; Maria Cristina Fossi

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.04.048

First evidence of presence of plastic debris in stomach of large pelagic fish in the Mediterranean Sea

Mar Pollut Bull. 2015 Jun 15;95(1):358-61. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.04.048. Epub 2015 Apr 30.

Authors

Teresa Romeo¹, Battaglia Pietro², Cristina Pedà³, Pierpaolo Consoli⁴, Franco Andaloro⁵, Maria Cristina Fossi⁶

Affiliations

¹ ISPRA (Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), Laboratory of Milazzo, Via dei Mille 46, 98057 Milazzo, ME, Italy. Electronic address: teresa.romeo@isprambiente.it.
² ISPRA (Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), Laboratory of Milazzo, Via dei Mille 46, 98057 Milazzo, ME, Italy. Electronic address: pietro.battaglia@isprambiente.it.
³ ISPRA (Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), Laboratory of Milazzo, Via dei Mille 46, 98057 Milazzo, ME, Italy. Electronic address: cristinapeda@gmail.com.
⁴ ISPRA (Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), Laboratory of Milazzo, Via dei Mille 46, 98057 Milazzo, ME, Italy. Electronic address: pierpaolo.consoli@isprambiente.it.
⁵ ISPRA, Residence Marbela, via Salvatore Puglisi 9, 90143 Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: franco.andaloro@isprambiente.it.
⁶ University of Siena, Department of Physical, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Italy. Electronic address: fossi@unisi.it.

PMID: 25936574
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.04.048

Abstract

This study focuses, for the first time, on the presence of plastic debris in the stomach contents of large pelagic fish (Xiphias gladius, Thunnus thynnus and Thunnus alalunga) caught in the Mediterranean Sea between 2012 and 2013. Results highlighted the ingestion of plastics in the 18.2% of samples. The plastics ingested were microplastics (<5mm), mesoplastics (5-25mm) and macroplastics (>25mm). These preliminary results represent an important initial phase in exploring two main ecotoxicological aspects: (a) the assessment of the presence and impact of plastic debris on these large pelagic fish, and (b) the potential effects related to the transfer of contaminants on human health.

Keywords: Large pelagic fish; Marine litter; Mediterranean; Plastic ingestion; Stomach content.

MeSH terms

Animals
Ecotoxicology
Environmental Monitoring
Fishes
Gastrointestinal Contents*
Mediterranean Sea
Perciformes*
Plastics / analysis*
Stomach
Waste Products / analysis*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Plastics
Waste Products
Water Pollutants, Chemical