The JPIO-project FACTS, Fluxes and Fate of Microplastics in Northern European Waters, addresses the occurrence and transport of microplastics in water, sediments, air and fish. These matrices were sampled at designed stations to gain knowledge on co-occurrence and distribution modeling. Here, we present the results of the occurrence of microplastics in the tissues of two species of wild fish. Cod was chosen as a fish representing both widespread food and an indicator for environmental contamination. The benthic feeder tusk is known to accumulate especially high levels of other contaminants and has a rather stationary behavior. Therefore, we analyze whether this species also accumulates microplastics. Fish were sampled in collaboration with commercial fishermen, scientific cruises, and private fishermen. At ten sites from south of Svalbard via Lofoten, west of Shetland, Bergen fjord system and down to Gøteborg, approximately 20 fish per station of either cod or tusk were caught wild. For three stations both species were caught. Samples of fillet and liver were degraded in a clean laboratory for microplastics analysis at the Institute of Marine Research and analyzed in pooled sample parallels with both ambient air and procedural controls by micro-FTIR for a size range of 10 micrometers to the maximum particle size found. Selected samples will also be analyzed for tyre wear particles by py-CG/MS, for plastic additives by LC-MS-Orbitrap, and for microplastic down to 1 micrometer by Raman-analysis.

Primary Presenter: Tanja Kögel, Institute of Marine Research (tanja.kogel@hi.no)

Authors:

Aasim Ali, Institute of Marine Research  (Aasim.Ali@hi.no)

Dorte Herzke, NILU  (dhe@nilu.no)

Natalia Ivleva, Technische Universität München  (natalia.ivleva@tum.de)

Oliver Jacob, Technische Universität München  (oliver.jacob@tum.de)

Alessio Gomiero, NORCE  (algo@norceresearch.no)