Microplastics in Internal Tissues of Companion Animals from Urban Environments
Companion animals living in urban areas are exposed to environmental contaminants, which may include microplastics. A preliminary study was conducted by collecting postmortem samples from the internal tissue (lungs, ileum, liver, kidney, and blood clots) of 25 dogs (<i>Canis familiaris</i&g...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/15/1979 |
| _version_ | 1797443023424978944 |
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| author | Joana C. Prata Ana L. Patrício Silva João P. da Costa Patrícia Dias-Pereira Alexandre Carvalho António José Silva Fernandes Florinda Mendes da Costa Armando C. Duarte Teresa Rocha-Santos |
| author_facet | Joana C. Prata Ana L. Patrício Silva João P. da Costa Patrícia Dias-Pereira Alexandre Carvalho António José Silva Fernandes Florinda Mendes da Costa Armando C. Duarte Teresa Rocha-Santos |
| author_sort | Joana C. Prata |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Companion animals living in urban areas are exposed to environmental contaminants, which may include microplastics. A preliminary study was conducted by collecting postmortem samples from the internal tissue (lungs, ileum, liver, kidney, and blood clots) of 25 dogs (<i>Canis familiaris</i>) and 24 cats (<i>Felis catus</i>) living in an urban environment in Porto metropolitan area, Portugal. Suspected microplastics were found in 80 samples from 35 animals (18 cats and 17 dogs), often occurring in more than one tissue of the same animal (71.4%), primarily under small sizes (50.3% as 1–10 µm). Micro-Raman spectroscopy confirmed a fraction of particles as common polymer types (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate). However, the number of particles was very low. This study highlights the possibilities of the internalization and distribution of microplastics in the internal tissues of terrestrial vertebrates. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:50:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8101f2a98a934898ace50de166b8f460 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:50:05Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-8101f2a98a934898ace50de166b8f4602023-11-30T22:07:52ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152022-08-011215197910.3390/ani12151979Microplastics in Internal Tissues of Companion Animals from Urban EnvironmentsJoana C. Prata0Ana L. Patrício Silva1João P. da Costa2Patrícia Dias-Pereira3Alexandre Carvalho4António José Silva Fernandes5Florinda Mendes da Costa6Armando C. Duarte7Teresa Rocha-Santos8Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalCentre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalCentre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalDepartment of Pathology and Molecular Immunology, Institute for the Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, Porto University (ICBAS-UP), 4050-313 Porto, PortugalI3N & Physics Department, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalI3N & Physics Department, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalI3N & Physics Department, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalCentre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalCentre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) & Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalCompanion animals living in urban areas are exposed to environmental contaminants, which may include microplastics. A preliminary study was conducted by collecting postmortem samples from the internal tissue (lungs, ileum, liver, kidney, and blood clots) of 25 dogs (<i>Canis familiaris</i>) and 24 cats (<i>Felis catus</i>) living in an urban environment in Porto metropolitan area, Portugal. Suspected microplastics were found in 80 samples from 35 animals (18 cats and 17 dogs), often occurring in more than one tissue of the same animal (71.4%), primarily under small sizes (50.3% as 1–10 µm). Micro-Raman spectroscopy confirmed a fraction of particles as common polymer types (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate). However, the number of particles was very low. This study highlights the possibilities of the internalization and distribution of microplastics in the internal tissues of terrestrial vertebrates.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/15/1979small animalspetsmicroplastics in biotaNile Red |
| spellingShingle | Joana C. Prata Ana L. Patrício Silva João P. da Costa Patrícia Dias-Pereira Alexandre Carvalho António José Silva Fernandes Florinda Mendes da Costa Armando C. Duarte Teresa Rocha-Santos Microplastics in Internal Tissues of Companion Animals from Urban Environments Animals small animals pets microplastics in biota Nile Red |
| title | Microplastics in Internal Tissues of Companion Animals from Urban Environments |
| title_full | Microplastics in Internal Tissues of Companion Animals from Urban Environments |
| title_fullStr | Microplastics in Internal Tissues of Companion Animals from Urban Environments |
| title_full_unstemmed | Microplastics in Internal Tissues of Companion Animals from Urban Environments |
| title_short | Microplastics in Internal Tissues of Companion Animals from Urban Environments |
| title_sort | microplastics in internal tissues of companion animals from urban environments |
| topic | small animals pets microplastics in biota Nile Red |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/15/1979 |
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