Microplastic contamination in commercially important bivalves from the southwest coast of India

Due to the ever-increasing production of plastic litter and its subsequent accumulation as microplastic in the environment, the pollution caused by microplastics is considered as a global menace, especially in the coastal ecosystem. Occurrence of microplastics in water and three commercially important bivalves, Viz. green mussel (Perna viridis), edible oyster (Magallana bilineata) and black clam (Villorita cyprinoides) from five different locations of southwest coast of India was studied. The highest abundance of microplastics was observed in water samples from Periyar River (163.67 items L-1). Among bivalves, the highest abundance of microplastics was observed in clams from Periyar River (digestive gland: 22.8 g-1; gill: 29.6 g-1), whereas the lowest abundance was observed in mussels sampled from Vembanad estuary (digestive gland: 5.6 g-1; gill: 8.5 g -1). Fibers were the most prevalent type of microplastics found in bivalve tissues across each location. Microplastics less than 2 mm were the most prevalent based on size. Polypropylene and high-density polyethylene were the two types of microplastics observed based on the results of Raman spectroscopy. No relationship was observed between shell length, tissue weight and microplastic abundance. A strong positive correlation was observed between the microplastic presence in water and bivalve tissues. The usefulness of sedentary bivalves in assessing the aquatic pollution has been validated through this study.

Automated summary

The research revealed widespread presence of microplastics in water and three commercially important bivalves from the southwest coast of India, with the highest abundance observed in water samples from Periyar River. Among the bivalves, clams showed the highest abundance of microplastics among all samples.