Microplastics in Some Freshwater Wild and Farmed Fish Species of Bangladesh

Abstract In today's world, microplastic contamination of aquatic systems is a subject of major concern. In this study, the incidence of microplastics in freshwater fish from both farmed and wild sources was evaluated. Wild catla (Gibelion catla), stinging catfish (Heteropneustes fossilis), rui (Labeo rohita), tengara catfish (Mystus tengara) and pabdah catfish (Ompok pabda) were collected from Padma river, Turag river and Bhairab river. Farmed fishes of same species were collected from Mymensingh and Chandpur fish markets. 68 (43.6%) microparticles out of 156 were identified as microplastics using ATR-FTIR. 66.67% (20 out of 30) of farmed fish sample had microplastics in their digestive system, while 88.4% (23 of 26) of wild fish sample presented microplastics. There was significant difference (p<0.05) in average microplastic count between wild and farmed fish. Average microplastic count also showed significant difference among five fish species (p<0.01). A broader variety of polymer types was observed polyethylene being the most abundant followed by polyester, polypropylene, polyamide-6 and polyurethane. This study suggests that microplastic contamination is ubiquitous and contamination is common in all of the fish species investigated, independent of their origin (wild or farmed). However, wild fish population is at a greater risk of high contamination of microplastics. This study, for the first time ever, reports plastic pollution in freshwater fishes of Bangladesh from wild and farmed sources.