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Microplastic contamination and potential risk assessment in coral reef fish species have been under-studied, particularly in the Bay of Bengal. Quantification and characterization of microplastics and their potential health risks were assessed for six tropical fishes from Saint Martin's Island, Bay of Bengal. A total of 60 gastrointestinal tracts (GIT) from six fish species (10 individuals/species) were collected and digested with 20 mL of 65% concentrated HNO3 + 80 mL of distilled water at 70 °C for 3 h, and microplastics were extracted by density separation using 4.4 M, 1.5 g/mL of sodium iodide solution. Microplastics were visually observed by a light binocular microscope, and then polymer types were detected with FTIR. Mean microplastic abundance ranged from 4.38 to 10 microplastics/GIT with an average occurrence rate of 100%. Red, transparent, black, and blue fibres (37.50 to 81.82%) were the most dominant MP colour. Most (88.35%) extracted microplastics were 100 to 1500 µm. Polypropylene and polyethylene were the most abundant polymers, accounting for 36.45 to 53.51% and 32.56 to 47.18%, respectively. A risk assessment of microplastics using the polymer hazard index revealed that microplastic contamination in these fishes (PHI = 565.40 to 659.26) from Saint Martin's Island were classified in the "Danger" risk category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microplastics (MPs) were investigated in four fish species viz., paradise threadfin (Polynemus paradiseus), corsula mullet (Rhinomugil corsula), flathead sillago (Sillaginopsis panijus) and king gobyeel (Taenioides sandwipi), which were collected from the Meghna River estuary in Bangladesh. The gastrointestinal tracts (GITs) of fishes (n = 80 in total) were examined for the presence of MPs following alkali digestion, microscopic observation and μ-FTIR analysis. A total of 573 MPs were detected across all four fish species, indicating the presence of MPs in 81.3% of the fish samples. On average, there were 7.16 ± 4.33 MP items/fish, 2.16 ± 1.76 items/g of GIT and 0.15 ± 0.12 items/g of body weight. Polyethylene, polypropylene and nylon were the most abundant polymers, comprising 47%, 23% and 19%, respectively, according to μ-FTIR analysis. The majority of MPs were fibers (62.48%), with white being the dominant color. R. corsula demonstrated the highest number of MPs in the < 500 μm size range, suggesting that smaller particles are more bio-available to pelagic fish. The findings confirm the contamination of the Meghna River estuary by MPs, and their presence in local fish raises concerns about potential public health risks through the food chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]