Microplastic contamination in pelagic fishes from the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia

Ain Waznin Nuha Ahmad Nawawi, Riri Ezraneti, Mohd Fuad Miskon, Juliana Mohamed

Abstract


Microplastic contamination in marine environments is a growing concern, particularly in fish species consumed by humans. This study investigates the presence and characteristics of microplastics in the livers of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) and yellowtail scad (Atule mate) collected from Pahang and Kelantan. The abundance of microplastics was quantified for each species at each location, with the total count normalized by the number of fish analyzed following the extraction and identification process. Microplastic identification was conducted using a Stereoscopic Microscope, while polymer composition was determined through ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. The microplastic abundance recorded was 0.067 particles per fish. The microplastic identified were predominantly fragments and filaments in red, black, and grey colors. The polymers found were poly(diallyl phthalate) (PDAP), poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT), polypropylene (PP), poly(cyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate) (PCT), and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The finding of microplastics in fish livers provides preliminary evidence of contamination and suggests direct exposure of these vital organs. This raises serious concerns about potential contamination in other crucial organs, including the gills, gastrointestinal tract, tissues, and even the brain. This highlights the need for further research on microplastic exposure pathways and its ecological implications along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.


Keywords


Microplastic pollution, Indian mackerel, yellowtail scad, marine contamination, fish organ, polymer degradation

Full Text:

PDF

References


Abbasi, S., Soltani, N., Keshavarzi, B., Moore, F., Turner, A., & Hassanaghaei, M. (2018). Microplastics in different tissues of fish and prawn from the Musa Estuary, Persian Gulf. Chemosphere, 205, 80–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.04.076.

Andrady, A. L., Hamid, H., & Torikai, A. (2011). Effects of solar UV and climate change on materials. Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences, 10, 292-300. https://doi.org/10.1039/c0pp90038a.

Avio, C. G., Gorbi, S., & Regoli, F. (2015). Experimental development of a new protocol for extraction and characterization of microplastics in fish tissues: first observations in commercial species from Adriatic Sea. Marine Environmental Research, 111, 18-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2015.06.014.

Bakieva, A., Zharkova, I. M., Gusseinova, D. Y., Mautalieva, A., Suvorova, M. A., & Abdullaeva, B. A. (2024). Histopathological examination of zebrafish organs under the exposure to microplastics. Experimental Biology, 101(4), 95–104. https://doi.org/10.26577/bb.2024.v101.i4.a7.

Biswas, S., & Ganguly, A. (2025). Microplastics in the Marine Ecosystems: Identification and Impacts. Environmental Claims Journal, 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/10406026.2024.2448567.

Boerger, C. M., Lattin, G. L., Moore, S. L., & Moore, C. J. (2010). Plastic ingestion by planktivorous fishes in the North Pacific Central Gyre. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 60(12), 2275–2278. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2010.08.007.

Bruslé, J., & i Anadon, G. G. (2017). The structure and function of fish liver. In Fish morphology (pp. 77–93). Routledge.

Cesa, F. S., Turra, A., & Baruque-Ramos, J. (2017). Synthetic fibers as microplastics in the marine environment: a review from textile perspective with a focus on domestic washings. Science of the Total Environment, 598, 1116-1129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.172.

Collard, F., Gilbert, B., Compère, P., Eppe, G., Das, K., Jauniaux, T., & Parmentier, E. (2017). Microplastics in livers of European anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus, L.). Environmental Pollution, 229, 1000–1005. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.07.089.

Cui, Y., Liu, M., Selvam, S., Ding, Y., Wu, Q., Pitchaimani, V. S., ... & Cai, M. (2022). Microplastics in the surface waters of the South China sea and the western Pacific Ocean: Different size classes reflecting various sources and transport. Chemosphere, 299, 134456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134456.

Dehaut, A., Cassone, A. L., Frère, L., Hermabessiere, L., Himber, C., Rinnert, E., ... & Paul-Pont, I. (2016). Microplastics in seafood: Benchmark protocol for their extraction and characterization. Environmental Pollution, 215, 223–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2016.05.018.

Derraik, J. G. (2002). The pollution of the marine environment by plastic debris: a review. Marine pollution bulletin, 44(9), 842-852. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-326X(02)00220-5.

Ezraneti, R., Hasan, N. A., Miskon, M. F., & Mohamed, J. (2024). Microplastic contamination in the marine ecosystem of Peninsular Malaysia: A review in marine water, sediment, and marine fish. Oriental Journal of Chemistry, 40(6). https://doi.org/10.13005/ojc/400601.

Etzrodt, G. Dr. (2022). Industrial Coloration of Plastics. I–XV. https://doi.org/10.3139/9781569908532.fm.

Foo, Y. H., Ratnam, S., Lim, E. V., Abdullah, M., Molenaar, V. J., Hwai, A. T. S., ... & Zanuri, N. B. M. (2022). Microplastic ingestion by commercial marine fish from the seawater of Northwest Peninsular Malaysia. PeerJ, 10, e13181. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13181.

Froese, R., & Pauly, D. (Eds.). (2024). FishBase (Version 10/2024). World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.fishbase.org.

Hidayati, N. V., Rachman, F. O., Muslih, N., Hidayat, R. R., Meinita, M. D., Hendrayana, N., Husni, I. A., Andriyono, S., & Sanjayasari, D. (2023). Microplastics contamination in commercial fish landed at Lengkong Fish Auction Point, Central Java, Indonesia. Journal of Water and Land Development, 70–78. https://doi.org/10.24425/jwld.2023.146599.

Hu, X., Gu, Y., Huang, W., & Yin, D. (2016). Phthalate monoesters as markers of phthalate contamination in wild marine organisms. Environmental Pollution, 218, 410-418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2016.07.020.

Jovanović, B. (2017). Ingestion of microplastics by fish and its potential consequences from a physical perspective. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 13(3), 510–515. https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.1913.

Karami, A., Romano, N., Galloway, T., & Hamzah, H. (2016). Virgin microplastics cause toxicity and modulate the impacts of phenanthrene on biomarker responses in African catfish (Clarias gariepinus). Environmental Research, 151, 58–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2016.07.024.

Kaur, M., Sharma, A., & Bhatnagar, P. (2024). Vertebrate Response to Microplastics, Nanoplastics and Co-exposed Contaminants: Assessing Accumulation, Toxicity, Behaviour, Physiology, and Molecular Changes. Toxicology Letters. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxlet.2024.04.004.

Khalik, W. M. A. W. M., Ibrahim, Y. S., Anuar, S. T., Govindasamy, S., & Baharuddin, N. F. (2018). Microplastics analysis in Malaysian marine waters: A field study of Kuala Nerus and Kuantan. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 135, 451–457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.07.052.

Kingsley, O., & Witthayawirasak, B. (2020). Occurrence, ecological and health risk assessment of phthalate esters in surface water of U-Tapao Canal, Southern Thailand. Toxics, 8(3), 58. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics8030058.

Knuckey, I., Bergh, M., Bodsworth, A., Koopman, M., & Gaylard, J. (2008). Review of the draft harvest strategy for the Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery (AFMA Project R2008/843). Fishwell Consulting.

Lu, Y., Zhang, Y., Deng, Y., Jiang, W., Zhao, Y., Geng, J., & Ren, H. (2016). Uptake and accumulation of polystyrene microplastics in zebrafish (Danio rerio) and toxic effects in the liver. Environmental Science & Technology, 50(7), 4054–4060. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b00183 .

Lusher, A. L., Welden, N. A., Sobral, P., & Cole, M. (2017). Sampling, isolating, and identifying microplastics ingested by fish and invertebrates. Analytical Methods, 9, 1346. https://doi.org/10.1039/c6ay02415g.

Ma, J., Chen, F., Xu, H., Liu, J., Chen, C. C., Zhang, Z., & Pan, K. (2022). Fate of face masks after being discarded into seawater: Aging and microbial colonization. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 436, 129084. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129084.

Menéndez, D., Blanco-Fernandez, C., Machado-Schiaffino, G., Ardura, A., & Garcia-Vazquez, E. (2023). High microplastics concentration in the liver is negatively associated with condition factor in the Benguela hake Merluccius polli. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 262, 115135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2023.115135.

Miskon, F., Sharulnizam, S. A., Ghazali, I. N. M., Hanapiah, M. F. M., & Rosli, M. K. (2024). Assessment of microplastics contamination in selected coral species from Kuantan coastal waters off the South China Sea. Journal of Marine Studies, 1(3), 1302. https://doi.org/10.29103/joms.v1i3.17929.

Nath, S. R. (2015). Gut content analysis of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta). Journal of Aquaculture & Marine Biology, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.15406/jamb.2015.03.00052.

Net, S., Delmont, A., Sempéré, R., Paluselli, A., & Ouddane, B. (2015). Reliable quantification of phthalates in environmental matrices (air, water, sludge, sediment, and soil): A review. Science of the Total Environment, 515–516, 162–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.02.013.

Nguyen, D. M., Hole, L. R., Breivik, Ø., Nguyen, T. B., & Pham, N. K. (2023). Marine plastic drift from the Mekong River to Southeast Asia. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 11(5), 925. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11050925.

Noor, N. S., Yahaya, N., Zain, N. N. M., Kamal, N. N. S. N. M., Mansor, M. S., Aziz, M. Y., & Waras, M. N. (2024). Microplastic pollution in Malaysia: Status and challenges—A brief overview. Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences, 28(3), 569–585.

Paluselli, A., & Kim, S. (2020). Horizontal and vertical distribution of phthalates acid ester (PAEs) in seawater and sediment of East China Sea and Korean South Sea: Traces of plastic debris? Marine Pollution Bulletin, 151, 110831. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110831.

Paluselli, A., Fauvelle, V., Galgani, F., & Sempere, R. (2018). Phthalate release from plastic fragments and degradation in seawater. Environmental Science & Technology, 53(1), 166–175. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b05083.

Piskuła, P., & Astel, A. M. (2023). Microplastics in commercial fishes and by-catch from selected FAO major fishing areas of the Southern Baltic Sea. Animals, 13(3), 458. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13030458.

Rahmawati, S., Nuzula, F., Sulistyo, E., & Hakim, L. (2023). Identification of microplastics in fish from the local fish market of Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 1263(1), 012043. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1263/1/012043.

Rochman, C. M. (2015). The complex mixture, fate, and toxicity of chemicals associated with plastic debris in the marine environment. In Marine Anthropogenic Litter (pp. 117–140). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16510-3_5.

Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC). (2022). The Southeast Asian state of fisheries and aquaculture 2022. Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center. http://repository.seafdec.org/handle/20.500.12066/675.

Saipolbahri, N., Bitlus, M. L. A., Ismail, N. A., Fauzi, N. M., & Subki, N. S. (2020). Determination of microplastics in surface water and sediment of Kelantan Bay. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 549(1), 012059. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/549/1/012059.

Sany, S. B. T., Tajfard, M., Rezayi, M., Rahman, M. A., & Hashim, R. (2018). The west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. In Elsevier eBooks (pp. 437–458). https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-08-100853-9.00050-6.

Sulaiman, R. N. R., Bakar, A. A., Ngadi, N., Kahar, I. N. S., Nordin, A. H., Ikram, M., & Nabgan, W. (2023). Microplastics in Malaysia’s aquatic environment: Current overview and future perspectives. Global Challenges, 7(8). https://doi.org/10.1002/gch2.202300047.

Turner, S., & Liu, Y. (2012). Chemistry and technology of step-growth polyesters. In Elsevier eBooks (pp. 311–331). https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-444-53349-4.00143-6.

Wang, Z., An, C., Chen, X., Lee, K., Zhang, B., & Feng, Q. (2021). Disposable masks release microplastics to the aqueous environment with exacerbation by natural weathering. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 417, 126036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126036.

Wei, R., Tiso, T., Bertling, J., O'Connor, K., Blank, L. M., & Bornscheuer, U. T. (2020). Possibilities and limitations of biotechnological plastic degradation and recycling. Nature Catalysis, 3(11), 867–871. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-020-00521-w.

Woodall, L. C., Sanchez-Vidal, A., Canals, M., Paterson, G. L., Coppock, R., Sleight, V., & Thompson, R. C. (2014). The deep sea is a major sink for microplastic debris. Royal Society Open Science, 1(4), 140317. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.140317.

Wootton, N., Reis-Santos, P., & Gillanders, B. M. (2021). Microplastic in fish–a global synthesis. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 31, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-021-09684-6.

Wujdi, A., Kim, H. J., & Oh, C. W. (2022). Population structure of Indian mackerel (Rastrelliger kanagurta) in Java and Bali Island, Indonesia inferred from otolith shape. Sains Malaysiana, 51(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2022-5101-04.

Yap, C. K., Chew, W., Al-Mutairi, K. A., Nulit, R., Ibrahim, M. H., Wong, K. W., & Al-Shami, S. A. (2021). Assessments of the ecological and health risks of potentially toxic metals in the topsoils of different land uses: A case study in Peninsular Malaysia. Biology, 11(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11010002.

Zhang, S., Wei, J., Guo, R., Liu, B., Qu, R., Huo, Z., & Zhu, F. (2023). The transformation and interaction of diallyl phthalate (DAP) in the three kinds of plastic under ultraviolet/sodium dichloroisocyanurate (UV/DCCNa) disinfection process. Chemical Engineering Journal, 467, 143401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2023.143401.

Zheng, X., Sun, R., Dai, Z., He, L., & Li, C. (2023). Distribution and risk assessment of microplastics in typical ecosystems in the South China Sea. Science of the Total Environment, 883, 163678. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163678.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.29103/joms.v2i1.21125

Article Metrics

 Abstract Views : 45 times
 PDF Downloaded : 22 times

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2025 Ain Waznin Nuha Ahmad Nawawi, Riri Ezraneti, Mohd Fuad Miskon, Juliana Mohamed

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Journal of Marine Studies published by the Department of Marine Science, part of the Universitas Malikussaleh
Content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Journal of Marine Studies

Journal of Marine Studies is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License