Microplastic Fiber Content in Mullus barbatus from the Tyrrhenian Sea: Preliminary Results

Microplastics are a concern in the aquatic environment,as well as for living organisms and humans consuming contaminated seafood. Recently, growing attention has beenfocused on fibrous microplastics, the most prevalent type of microplastics in the marine environment, and naturalmicrofibers. Considering that benthic fish may be more exposed to fibers than pelagic fish, microfiber ingestion wasassessed in Mullus barbatus, a commercially important fish species which lives on the sea bottom. Overall, n. 20 samplesfrom the Tyrrhenian Sea, sold for human consumption, were analyzed. The microfibers isolated were classified throughmicroscopical observation and the evaluation of specific morphological characteristics. The percentage of fish withmicrofibres was 55%, with an average of 7.44 microfibers/individual. Visual characterization of fibers allowed theclassification of 65% of the items as natural microfibres. Considering that microplastics could translocate from the gastrointestinal tract into other tissues, their presence also in the non-edible parts of commercial species should not beunderestimated, but further investigation which includes both natural and synthetic microfibers are needed.