With the increased occurrence of plastics in the marine environment, ingestion of microplastics (MPs) by marine invertebrates such as mussels is increasing globally. This study investigated the occurrence of microplastics in mussels sold at supermarkets and wholesalers in Cape Town, South Africa. Soft tissue was extracted from mussels, digested and identified by microscopy and FTIR-ATR. MP filaments (70%) and fragments (30%) were the only types of MPs identified and an average of 0.04 MPs/g soft tissue and 3.8 MPs/mussel recorded. Blue/green (44%) and black/grey (40%), smaller than 2000 μm were the most prominent MPs recorded and the main polymer type was filamentous polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Our results suggest that retail mussels in Cape Town do not contain as high concentrations of MPs when compared to other investigations and routine monitoring of seafood in the country is suggested.

随着海洋环境中塑料的增加，全球无脊椎动物诸如贻贝对微塑料（MPs）的摄入正在增加。这项研究调查了在南非开普敦的超市和批发商出售的贻贝中微塑料的存在情况。从贻贝中提取软组织，进行消化并通过显微镜和FTIR-ATR进行鉴定。MP长丝（70％）和碎片（30％）是唯一鉴定出的MP类型，记录的平均软组织为0.04 MPs / g，贻贝平均为3.8 MPs。小于2000μm的蓝色/绿色（44％）和黑色/灰色（40％）是记录的最突出MP，主要聚合物类型是丝状聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（PET）。