Detection of Microplastics in Commercially Important Shrimp via Chemical Digestion and Optical Microscopy

In aquatic ecosystems, plastics degrade, transforming into smaller particles called microplastics (MPs), which can easily be mistaken for food and ingested by aquatic fauna, contaminating it. Many of these contaminated animals are of great commercial interest and are part of the human food chain. Thus, in an attempt to verify the presence of MPs in the tissues of commercially relevant shrimp, two species of marine shrimp, Xiphopenaeus kroyeri and Farfantepenaeus brasiliensis , collected in the South Atlantic (Ubatuba, São Paulo – Brazil), were used as a biological model. The frozen animals were underwent alkaline digestion and the residual material was analyzed using light microscopy. Particles of varying sizes and colors were found in 80% of the specimens analyzed; in both species, the particles were predominantly blue. This high rate of MPs in commercial species is quite concerning, as these particles can bioaccumulate throughout the food chain, posing a potential risk to the environment and human health. The frequent presence of high levels of contaminants in food-source organisms highlights the need for environmental monitoring and further research into the toxicological risks of indirect MPs ingestion.