"Microplastic seasoning": A study on microplastic contamination of sea salts in Bangladesh.

This study investigated microplastics (MPs) in commercial sea salts from Bangladesh. The presence of MPs in the 18 sea salt bands was 100 %, where the mean MPs abundance was 471.67 MPs/kg, ranging between 300 and 670 MPs/kg. The maximum number of MPs in the 300-1500 µm size class was significantly higher than the 1500-3000 µm and 3000-5000 µm size class. The most dominant color was black. Fibers and foams were the dominant shapes. The highest number of MPs was 41 %, obtained from coarse salt grains. Four types of polymers were mainly identified from the analyzed samples: PP, PE, PET, and PA. The mean polymer risk index value among these sea salts was 539 to 1257. The findings of this study can be helpful for consumers, salt industries, and policymakers to be aware of or reduce MP contamination levels in sea salts during production and consumption.

Microplastics in an anadromous national fish, Hilsa shad Tenualosa ilisha from the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh.

Hilsa shad is one of the most important fisheries, contributing about 12.9% of the country's (Bangladesh) total fish production. There was no previous study on microplastic contamination of this important commercial fish. This study aims to identify, classify, and quantify microplastics (MPs) ingested by the national fish of Bangladesh, Hilsa shad, Tenualosa ilisha. A total of 287 MPs were recovered from the gastrointestinal tracts. All the fishes analyzed were contaminated with MPs. The mean (±SD) of the number of MPs was 19.13 ± 10.77 particles/fish, ranging from 7 to 51 particles/fish. Significant correlation was not found between the fish body length and MP abundance (rs = 0.287, p = 0.299), and between the fish body weight and MPs abundance (rs = 0.261, p = 0.347). The most dominant color was transparent (30%), followed by gray and black, contributing to 26% and 23%, respectively. The maximum number of MPs accounted for in the 300-1500 µm size class where fiber was the most dominant (50%) shape of observed MPs. These results provide a baseline of MP contamination in seafood from Bangladesh that should be useful for future monitoring efforts. The present study is the first research on MP contamination of Hilsa shad.