Ingestion of prey intensifies microplastic load in Mediterranean commercial fish

We describe the ingestion of plastics by four edible fish species from the Western Mediterranean Sea (Fiumicino, Italy): Micromesistius poutassou, Mullus barbatus, Sardina pilchardus, and Trachurus trachurus. Microparticles smaller than 1 mm, particularly blue fibres made of cellophane, are the most found in terms of size, colour, shape, and polymer. The highest level of contamination was found in Sardina pilchardus and in stomachs containing prey across all species. We have gathered evidence from commercially relevant fishes, of which two can be good bioindicators of microplastics (M. barbatus and T. trachurus), and one is poorly investigated (M. poutassou) in order to contribute to the overall assessments of the MP-induced risks for the Mediterranean ecosystem and human activity.