Increased Microplastic Intake from Fry-Cooked Fish Muscle Tissue

Abstract

The health risks of microplastic exposure have raised global concerns due to their ubiquitous presence. While current studies emphasize microplastic detection in seafood, the influence of cooking methods remains understudied, potentially biasing risk assessments. This study employed both laser direct infrared spectroscopy to detect microplastics larger than 20 μm and pyrolysis thermal desorption–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry to quantify microplastics exceeding 0.22 μm, aiming to comprehensively evaluate microplastic variations in fish muscle tissue after boiling, steaming, and frying. Frying significantly elevated microplastic abundance in fish muscle (p < 0.05), from 4.00 ± 3.01 to 36.43 ± 14.39 items/g (corresponding to 32.30 ± 11.20 and 58.09 ± 24.94 μg/g), whereas steaming and boiling showed no significant changes (p > 0.05). Notably, sub-20 μm microplastics were identified in fish muscle, with polyvinyl chloride fragmentation during frying as a primary contributor. These findings provide novel insights into cooking-induced microplastic dynamics in seafood, advancing risk assessments for dietary microplastic exposure.