Microplastic accumulation in oysters: Insights from aquaculture and laboratory conditions

Microplastics, emerging pollutants, are present in seafood and pose a potential health risk to consumers. The objective of this study was to assess microplastic concentrations in the surface water, sediments, and oysters of the Cha Va River, an aquaculture production area in southern Vietnam. Laboratory experiments were also conducted to examine rates of ingestion by and bioconcentration of microplastics in oysters. Microparticles including microplastics were measured in all samples collected from the field, and presented 9–27 items m−3 in surface water, 3300–8000 items kg−1 dry weight in sediments, and 0.67–8.33 items ind−1 or 0.02–0.33 items g−1 wet weight in oysters. Fibre shapes and blue colour were the most common while polypropylene, polyester, polyethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate acrylate, alkyd were identified. The presence of microparticles in surface water and sediment was influenced by the complex vertical motion characteristic of tidal environments whereas the microparticles in natural oysters seemed to be closer related to those in sediment than in the surface water. Laboratory experiments showed that oysters incubated in 10 and 1000 microplastics L−1 tanks accumulated 4.1 ± 2.0 and 19.0 ± 11.0 microplastics per individual, respectively. However, bioconcentration of microplastics in oysters was higher (12.37 ± 6.95) in tanks with lower microplastic concentrations than in tanks with higher microplastic concentrations (0.62 ± 0.35). It is a high potential human health risk to the local oyster-consumers because of the annually microparticle ingestion from 657 to 3942 items per person. We suggested further studies on the severity of this potential health risk and policies for minimising microplastic emissions into the environment in Vietnam.