Microplastic Biomagnification in Invertebrates, Fish, and Cormorants in Lake Champlain

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Issue Date
2018
Authors
Stewart, James
Walrath, Joshua
Putnam, Alex
Hammer, Chad
VanBrocklin, Hope
Buksa, Brandon
Clune, Alexis
Publisher
Keywords
Microplastics , biomagnification in food chain , ingestion , Lake Champlain , pollution , toxins and contaminants , invertebrates , fish , double-crested cormorants
Abstract
The goal of this research was to determine whether microplastics (MP) are uptaken by invertebrates, fish, and Phalacrocorax auritus (double-crested cormorants) resident to Lake Champlain. We did so by quantifying and characterizing (e.g., fragment, fiber, film, foam, pellet) plastic particulate.Wet peroxide oxidation digests were performed on digestive tracts of 506 lake organisms, specifically invertebrates (n = 301), 15 species of fish (n = 190), and Phalacrocorax auritus (double-crested cormorants) (n = 15). Our research indicated that fibers were the were the most common (80.1%) type of particulate found in all organisms, followed by fragments (9.64%), films (6.36%), foam (3.01%), and pellets (Amia calva) contained the greatest average number of plastic particulate (n = 29.67), followed by lake trout (Salvelinus hamaycush) (n = 21.42), and northern pike (Esox lucius) (n = 20.1). Among digested fish, stomachs contained the greatest mean number of MPs (n=5.62), followed by the esophagus (n=5.36) and intestines (n=4.8). These findings suggest biomagnification and/or direct ingestion is occurring in Lake Champlain organisms, as invertebrates, fish, and double-crested cormorants contained on average 0.36, 6.08, and 22.93 microplastic particles.
Description
Student poster, Center for Earth and Environmental Science, SUNY Plattsburgh
DOI