Risk of aquaculture-derived microplastics in aquaculture areas: An overlooked issue or a non-issue?

Plastic equipment such as fishing nets and foam buoys has been widely used in aquaculture. This kind of equipment would gradually decompose while being subject to the long-term effects of physical, chemical, and biological degradation processes, leading to the release of large amounts of microplasti...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lin Lin, Ciara Chun Chen, Xiaoshan Zhu, Ke Pan, Xiangrong Xu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Marine Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.923471/full
Description
Summary:Plastic equipment such as fishing nets and foam buoys has been widely used in aquaculture. This kind of equipment would gradually decompose while being subject to the long-term effects of physical, chemical, and biological degradation processes, leading to the release of large amounts of microplastics (MPs) into the local marine environment and the generation of aquaculture-derived MPs (AD-MPs). The rapid growth of aquaculture has resulted in an explosion of AD-MPs with various environmental consequences. The accumulation of MPs in aquatic products was found closely related to the abundance of environmental MPs, suggesting the importance of determining whether AD-MPs increase the risk of MP ingestion by aquatic products and thus endanger aquatic food safety. In this short communication, the ecological and health risks of AD-MPs were discussed and perspectives were proposed for future studies.
ISSN:2296-7745