Microplastics prevalence in water, sediment and two economically important species of fish in an urban riverine system in Ghana.

Emmanuel R Blankson,Prince Oppong,Patricia Nakie Tetteh,Francis Gbogbo,Xiaoshan Zhu

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0263196

Abstract

Urban riverine systems serve as conduits for the transport of plastic waste from the terrestrial dumpsites to marine repositories. This study presented data on the occurrence of microplastics in water, sediment, Bagrid Catfish (Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus) and Black-chinned Tilapia (Sarotherodon melanotheron) from the Densu River, an urban riverine system in Ghana. Microplastics were extracted from the samples collected from both the lentic and lotic sections of the river. The results indicated widespread pollution of the Densu River with microplastics in all the compartments studied. The average numbers of microplastic particles deposited in the Dam (2.0 ± 0.58) and Delta (2.50 ± 0.48) sections of the river were not affected by the differences in their hydrology. However, the stagnant water system of the Dam promoted the floating of larger-sized microplastics while the flowing waters of the Delta did not show any selectivity in the deposition of microplastics between sediment and the water column. The number of microplastics ingestions by the Bagrid Catfish (2.88 ± 2.11) was similar to the Black-chinned Tilapia (2.38 ± 1.66) but both species ingested lower numbers of microplastics than reported for marine fish species in coastal Ghana.

Highlights

Plastics are one of the most used materials in the world due to their durability, versatility and cost-efficiency
This study presented data on the occurrence of microplastics in water, sediment and two species of fish from the Densu River and examined microplastics distribution in the lentic and lotic sections of the river
Our results indicated widespread pollution of the Densu River with microplastics

Summary

Introduction

Plastics are one of the most used materials in the world due to their durability, versatility and cost-efficiency. Global production of plastic has been increasing over the years with about 360 million tons of plastic produced in 2018 [1]. As a result of the increased usage of plastic, plastic wastes have become a global environmental problem and about five (5) to 13 million tons of plastic wastes are discharged annually into the marine environment [2]. The deleterious effects of microplastics are enormous and include causing physical damage or injury to a variety of exposed aquatic organisms and the release of Persistent Organic Pollutants upon ingestion [3,4,5]. Microplastics are a threat to aquatic life and food webs

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Conclusion