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[Abstract] [PDF]
Microplastics (MPs) are a contemporary societal concern that have been identified as a growing environmental hazard as a result of improper disposal. The goal of this research was to study the MPs found in Lanchester's freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium lanchesteri, in three different sites along the irrigation canal in central Thailand.In each site, twenty individuals (n = 20) of M. lanchester were examined for MP content. A total number of MPs in site 1 was 1093 items/20 ind. (range 35-80), with an average of 60.72 ? 10.54 items/individual. Site 2 was 1001 items/20 ind. (range 34-71), with an average of 50.05?8.71 items/individual, and site3 was 1039 items/20 ind. (range 33-71), with an average of 51.95?10.62 items/individual. Among the various shapes, types, and colors of MPs identified, fiber and fragment, as well as blue, were the most common. The prawn had the greatest MPssize range of 200?250 ?m in each point, followed by MPssize ranges of 250?500 ?m and <100 ?m. FT-IR data confirmed 1 particle of ethylene propylene rubber (EPR), 4 particles of polyethylene glycol (PEG), 1 particle of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), 1 particle of bis (2-ethylhexyl) phosphate, 1 particle of cellulose acetate, 2 particles of glyceryl polypropylene glycol ether, 1 particle of polyester (PE), and 1 particle of hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC). The findings of this study provide detailed and useful information for a better understanding of MP contamination in the region, and M. lanchesteri is proposed as an appropriate species for monitoring MPs in freshwater ecosystems.
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