Occurrence of microplastics across tissues in North Atlantic fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus).

IF 7.3 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental Pollution Pub Date : 2026-05-15 Epub Date: 2026-03-26 DOI:10.1016/j.envpol.2026.128026

Giulia Vitale, Marc Ruiz-Sagalés, Valerie Chosson, Sverrir D Halldórsson, Asunción Borrell, Alex Aguilar, Guðjón M Sigurðsson, Fabiana Corami, Carlo Barbante, Odei Garcia-Garin

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

As long-lived filter-feeders, baleen whales integrate and reflect changes in ocean contamination, including exposure to microplastics (MPs). This study reports the occurrence of MPs in multiple tissues of North Atlantic fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) collected off southwestern Iceland in 2023. Five tissues (blubber, muscle, liver, lung, and kidney) from eight individuals were analyzed using the Micro-FTIR and Micro-Raman spectroscopy under strict contamination control. MPs occurred in 32.5% of the samples (13/40; n = 16 particles), predominantly as blue fragments (75%) with an average length of 67.2 ± 33.8 μm. Polyester, polyethylene, and polypropylene were the most common polymers. Although overall tissue differences were minimal, blubber contained the highest MP abundance and longer average particles than other tissues. These findings provide evidence of MP tissue-specific accumulation within a mysticete species and highlight the need to clarify the mechanisms and implications of MP accumulation in marine megafauna.

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北大西洋长须鲸（Balaenoptera physalus）组织中微塑料的发生。

作为长寿的滤食性动物，须鲸整合并反映了海洋污染的变化，包括接触微塑料（MPs）。本研究报告了2023年在冰岛西南部采集的北大西洋长须鲸（Balaenoptera physalus）的多个组织中MPs的出现。在严格的污染控制下，使用Micro-FTIR和Micro-Raman光谱分析了8个人的5种组织（脂肪、肌肉、肝脏、肺和肾脏）。32.5% （13/40, n = 16）的样品中存在MPs，主要为蓝色碎片（75%），平均长度为67.2±33.8 μm。聚酯、聚乙烯和聚丙烯是最常见的聚合物。虽然整体组织差异很小，但脂肪比其他组织含有最高的MP丰度和更长的平均颗粒。这些发现提供了MP在一个神秘物种中组织特异性积累的证据，并强调了阐明MP在海洋巨型动物中积累的机制和意义的必要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Environmental Pollution 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

16.00

自引率

6.70%

发文量

2082

审稿时长

2.9 months

期刊介绍： Environmental Pollution is an international peer-reviewed journal that publishes high-quality research papers and review articles covering all aspects of environmental pollution and its impacts on ecosystems and human health. Subject areas include, but are not limited to: • Sources and occurrences of pollutants that are clearly defined and measured in environmental compartments, food and food-related items, and human bodies; • Interlinks between contaminant exposure and biological, ecological, and human health effects, including those of climate change; • Contaminants of emerging concerns (including but not limited to antibiotic resistant microorganisms or genes, microplastics/nanoplastics, electronic wastes, light, and noise) and/or their biological, ecological, or human health effects; • Laboratory and field studies on the remediation/mitigation of environmental pollution via new techniques and with clear links to biological, ecological, or human health effects; • Modeling of pollution processes, patterns, or trends that is of clear environmental and/or human health interest; • New techniques that measure and examine environmental occurrences, transport, behavior, and effects of pollutants within the environment or the laboratory, provided that they can be clearly used to address problems within regional or global environmental compartments.