Assessment and Analysis of Microplastics in Commercially Sold Bivalves from Los Baños, Laguna, and Lipa, Batangas, Philippines
Cyrene M. Bolaños
Alpha Laboratory Calamba Philippines Corporation, LTO Road, Calamba City, Laguna, 4027, Philippines.
Amelia B. Hizon-Fradejas *
Institute of Chemistry, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Los Baños, Laguna, 4031, Philippines.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Microplastics were extracted from Perna viridis (Asian green mussel), Venerupis philippinarum (Manila clam), and Corbicula manilensis (“tulya”, a freshwater clam), which were bought from Los Baños, Laguna and Lipa, Batangas, Philippines commercial markets, using hydrogen peroxide digestion and density floatation. The isolated microplastics were verified and characterized using hot needle test and Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectrometer. The microplastic concentration among these bivalves ranged from 0.52 ± 0.13 to 2.94 ± 0.65 MP/g FW and 1.50 ± 0.34 to 2.67 ± 0.66 MP/individual, which were compared to the values from existing studies. Fibers and fragments dominated the shape of the extracted microplastics. The possible types of microplastics identified were PP/EVA, PP, PP/PETE, PP/Nitrile, PU, dominated by LDPE/EVA using ATR-FTIR spectrometer. Their sources were linked to the origin of the samples namely Bacoor, Cavite and Lucena, Quezon. The implication of the level of microplastic pollution on the human diet was also analyzed to assess its risk on the consumers.
Keywords: Bivalves, density floatation, microplastics, seafood, ATR-FTIR, MP contamination