Ho, Yuen-Wa, Lim, Jin Yan, Yeoh, Yun Kit, Chiou, Jia-Chi, Zhu, Yuyan, Lai, Keng Po, Li, Lei, Chan, Paul Kay Sheung, and Fang, James Kar-Hei (2022) Preliminary Findings of the High Quantity of Microplastics in Faeces of Hong Kong Residents. Toxics, 10. 414.

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Abstract

Microplastics are recognised as a ubiquitous and hazardous pollutant worldwide. These small-sized particles have been detected in human faeces collected from a number of cities, providing evidence of human ingestion of microplastics and their presence in the gastrointestinal tract. Here, using Raman spectroscopy, we identified an average of 50 particles g−1 (20.4–138.9 particles g−1 wet weight) in faeces collected from a healthy cohort in Hong Kong. This quantity was about five times higher than the values reported in other places in Asia and Europe. Polystyrene was the most abundant polymer type found in the faeces, followed by polypropylene and polyethylene. These particles were primarily fragments, but about two-thirds of the detected polyethylene terephthalate were fibres. More than 88% of the microplastics were smaller than 300 µm in size. Our study provides the first data on the faecal level, and thus the extent of ingestion, of microplastics in Hong Kong’s population. This timely assessment is crucial and supports the recently estimated ingestion rate of microplastics by Hong Kong residents through seafood consumption, which is one of the highest worldwide. These findings may be applicable to other coastal populations in South China with similar eating habits.

Item ID:	75653
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	2305-6304
Keywords:	microplastic; stool; gastrointestinal tract; gut microbiota; South China
Copyright Information:	© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Date Deposited:	08 Feb 2023 02:02
FoR Codes:	41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4105 Pollution and contamination > 410599 Pollution and contamination not elsewhere classified @ 50% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4299 Other health sciences > 429999 Other health sciences not elsewhere classified @ 50%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2099 Other health > 209999 Other health not elsewhere classified @ 49% 20 HEALTH > 2099 Other health > 209999 Other health not elsewhere classified @ 49% 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1805 Marine systems and management > 180505 Measurement and assessment of marine water quality and condition @ 50%
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