Microplastic pollution in rice-fish co-culture system: A report of three farmland stations in Shanghai, China

Microplastics are emerging contaminants of increasing concern. Despite the occurrence of microplastics in farmland soils, the knowledge on microplastics in rice-fish co-culture ecosystems is limited. In this study, we investigated the distribution of microplastics in three rice-fish culture stations in Shanghai. During non-rice and riceplanting periods, microplastics in water, soils and aquatic animals (eel, loach and crayfish) were systematically assayed using methods of NaCl density extraction, H2O2 digestion and micro-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Results showed that averagemicroplastic abundanceswere 0.4 +/- 0.1 items L-1, 10.3 +/- 2.2 items kg(-1), 1.7 +/- 0.5 items individual(-1) in water, soils and aquatic animal samples, respectively. We found an increasing trend in microplastic abundances in water, soil and animal samples from non-rice period to rice-planting period. Almost all ofmicroplasticswere found in digestive tracts of animals. Majormicroplastics were small (<1 mm) polyethylene and polypropylene fibers, with color of white and translucent. Size, shape, color and polymer type distributions of microplastics were similarly found in environmental and animal samples. Moreover, microplastic abundances in aquatic animals correlated to abundance in farmland soils. This study, for the first time, reveals the occurrence and characteristics of microplastic pollution in rice-fish culture ecosystem which suggests the potential ecological risks of microplastics in the agroecosystem. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.