Plastic found in Amazon fish as particles become trapped in river plants

The Amazon’s fish live in water that can change dramatically with the seasons. In some places, oxygen levels fall so low that ordinary gill breathing is not enough. Several Amazonian species have adapted by taking oxygen from the air or by breathing at the water’s surface. That unusual ability is now being considered alongside another feature of the modern Amazon: plastic pollution. Three studies point to different parts of the same problem. Plastic has been found in the gills and digestive tracts of small stream fish, plants along the Amazon River can trap plastic particles, and a recent review suggests that fish adapted to breathe air may have particular vulnerabilities when microplastics are present.How Amazon fish ingest plastic through food and waterA study published in ScienceDirect, titled ‘Contamination of stream fish by plastic waste in the Brazilian Amazon’, examined 68 fish representing 14 species from 12 small streams in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. The researchers looked not just at what the fish had swallowed, but also at material attached to their gills. The distinction matters because the gills are in constant contact with the surrounding water. The results were un...