Biodiversity, distributions and isolation of microplastics pollution in finfish species in the Panjkora River at Lower and Upper Dir districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan

Abstract The basic aim of this study was aimed to determine the ichthyofaunal diversity of River Panjkora in both upper and lower Dir districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.Fish samples were collected by using fishnets from March to September 2020. A total of 724 specimens were collected and classified into 5 families, 14 genera, and 18 species. The overall results revealed that most fish fauna of river Panjkora contains 8 species of family Cyprinidae (56.49%) followed by 4 species of Nemacheilidae (24.44%), 2 species of Channidae (10.63%), and Sisoridae (7.04%), and 1 species of Mastacembelidae (1.38%), respectively. Among all kinds of fish species, Schizothorax plagiostomus (16.57%) was highly dominated and followed by Carassius auratus (11.87%) and Racoma labiata (9.66%) and were reported as highly abundant, especially during April, May, and June. The least abundant species were Glyptothorax punjabensis, Glyptothorax sufii, and Mastacembelus armatus, that constituting 2.48%, 2.20%, and 1.38% of the total fish samples. The Overall Simpsons diversity (1-D= 0.919) and Simpsons Reciprocal index values (1/D= 12.3876), and Shannons index (H= 2.68) were indicating that river Panjkora contains a quite rich and diverse group of fish species. The highest microplastics observed in site 7 compared to other study area. Conservation steps should be taken as a top priority to protect and conserve the marine environment and natural heritage from further loss, extinction and stop or minimize losses incurred through irresponsible fishery practices

Resumo O objetivo básico deste estudo foi determinar a diversidade ictiofaunística do rio Panjkora nos distritos de Lower e Upper de Dir, na província de Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, no Paquistão. Amostras de peixes foram coletadas com redes de arrasto de março a setembro de 2020. Foram coletados 724 espécimes, classificados em 5 famílias, 14 gêneros e 18 espécies. Os resultados gerais revelaram que a maioria da ictiofauna do rio Panjkora contém 8 espécies da família Cyprinidae (56,49%), seguidas por 4 espécies de Nemacheilidae (24,44%), 2 espécies de Channidae (10,63%) e Sisoridae (7,04%) e 1 espécie de Mastacembelidae (1,38%). Entre todas as espécies de peixes, Schizothorax plagiostomus (16,57%) foi altamente predominante, seguida por Carassius auratus (11,87%) e Racoma labiata (9,66%), e elas foram relatadas como altamente abundantes, especialmente nos meses de abril, maio e junho. As espécies menos abundantes foram Glyptothorax punjabensis, Glyptothorax sufii e Mastacembelus armatus, que constituíram 2,48%, 2,20% e 1,38%, respectivamente, do total de peixes amostrados. O índice de diversidade de Simpson (1-D = 0,919), o índice recíproco de Simpson (1/D = 12,3876) e o índice de Shannon (H = 2,68) indicaram que o rio Panjkora contém um grupo bastante rico e diversificado de espécies de peixes. Os microplásticos mais altos foram observados no local 7 em comparação com outra área de estudo. Medidas de conservação devem ser tomadas como prioridade máxima para proteger e conservar o ambiente marinho e o patrimônio natural de novas perdas e extinção e para parar ou minimizar as perdas ocorridas por práticas de pesca irresponsáveis.

Biodiversity, distributions and isolation of microplastics pollution in finfish species in the Panjkora River at Lower and Upper Dir districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan / Biodiversidade, distribuição e isolamento de poluições por microplásticos em espécies de peixes no rio Panjkora nos distritos de Lower e Upper Dir da província de Khyber Pakhtunkhwa do Paquistão

The basic aim of this study was aimed to determine the ichthyofaunal diversity of River Panjkora in both upper and lower Dir districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.Fish samples were collected by using fishnets from March to September 2020. A total of 724 specimens were collected and classified into 5 families, 14 genera, and 18 species. The overall results revealed that most fish fauna of river Panjkora contains 8 species of family Cyprinidae (56.49%) followed by 4 species of Nemacheilidae (24.44%), 2 species of Channidae (10.63%), and Sisoridae (7.04%), and 1 species of Mastacembelidae (1.38%), respectively. Among all kinds of fish species, Schizothorax plagiostomus (16.57%) was highly dominated and followed by Carassius auratus (11.87%) and Racoma labiata (9.66%) and were reported as highly abundant, especially during April, May, and June. The least abundant species were Glyptothorax punjabensis, Glyptothorax sufii, and Mastacembelus armatus, that constituting 2.48%, 2.20%, and 1.38% of the total fish samples. The Overall Simpson's diversity (1-D= 0.919) and Simpson's Reciprocal index values (1/D= 12.3876), and Shannon's index (H= 2.68) were indicating that river Panjkora contains a quite rich and diverse group of fish species. The highest microplastics observed in site 7 compared to other study area. Conservation steps should be taken as a top priority to protect and conserve the marine environment and natural heritage from further loss, extinction and stop or minimize losses incurred through irresponsible fishery practices

O objetivo básico deste estudo foi determinar a diversidade ictiofaunística do rio Panjkora nos distritos de Lower e Upper de Dir, na província de Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, no Paquistão. Amostras de peixes foram coletadas com redes de arrasto de março a setembro de 2020. Foram coletados 724 espécimes, classificados em 5 famílias, 14 gêneros e 18 espécies. Os resultados gerais revelaram que a maioria da ictiofauna do rio Panjkora contém 8 espécies da família Cyprinidae (56,49%), seguidas por 4 espécies de Nemacheilidae (24,44%), 2 espécies de Channidae (10,63%) e Sisoridae (7,04%) e 1 espécie de Mastacembelidae (1,38%). Entre todas as espécies de peixes, Schizothorax plagiostomus (16,57%) foi altamente predominante, seguida por Carassius auratus (11,87%) e Racoma labiata (9,66%), e elas foram relatadas como altamente abundantes, especialmente nos meses de abril, maio e junho. As espécies menos abundantes foram Glyptothorax punjabensis, Glyptothorax sufii e Mastacembelus armatus, que constituíram 2,48%, 2,20% e 1,38%, respectivamente, do total de peixes amostrados. O índice de diversidade de Simpson (1-D = 0,919), o índice recíproco de Simpson (1/D = 12,3876) e o índice de Shannon (H = 2,68) indicaram que o rio Panjkora contém um grupo bastante rico e diversificado de espécies de peixes. Os microplásticos mais altos foram observados no local 7 em comparação com outra área de estudo. Medidas de conservação devem ser tomadas como prioridade máxima para proteger e conservar o ambiente marinho e o patrimônio natural de novas perdas e extinção e para parar ou minimizar as perdas ocorridas por práticas de pesca irresponsáveis.

A Preliminary Survey on Knowledge and Attitudes of University Students Regarding Microplastic Pollution and Its Impact on the Environment

@#Introduction: Daily use and improper management of plastic materials by the public contributes to the occurrence of microplastic pollution. It can be acknowledged that knowledge and attitudes are one of the keys to reducing the release of microplastic into the environment. Therefore, enhancing student’s understanding may play an important role in effective solution innovation and readiness to take specific actions for environmental protection. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted among university students using an online questionnaire to assess their knowledge and attitudes about microplastic pollution. For data analysis, Pearson’s Chi-square was conducted using SPSS version 26. Results: Findings revealed that students have moderate knowledge (4.66) and attitudes (5.42) towards microplastic pollution. However, neither age, gender, CGPA, nor the course in which they studied had any significant association with their level of knowledge and attitudes (p>0.05). In fact, the level of knowledge and attitude reported by respondents indicate that it is necessary to address this deficiency by providing education through structured education and mass media, along with vigorous policy enforcement and replacement of conventional plastics. Conclusion: Education on microplastics among the younger generation is key to curbing the problem of microplastic pollution. As future consumers, the demand for alternative products that does not contribute to microplastic can help encourage brands and markets to come up with better solution that is critical to prevent this problem from worsening.

Separation and Identification of Microplastics in Digestive System of Bivalves / 分析化学

As a new type of pollutants,microplastics (small pieces of plastic with the longest dimension less than 5 mm) are bringing wide concerns by policy makers and researchers. The impact of microplastics on marine life is closely related to human health. Bivalves, as filter feeding creatures, can easily ingest microplastics in their feeding process. The microplastics in these bivalves can easily enter the human body through the food chain. In this study,a bivalve sample pretreatment method was established for separating the microplastics in their digestive system. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of microplastics was carried out by micro-Fourier transformed infrared spectroscope (μ-FT-IR) and Stereo microscope. By comparing the digestion systems of using 10% KOH and 30% H2O2, respectively, it was found that the digestion system using 10% KOH had better digestion efficiency. The recoveries of polypropylene (PP),polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) ranged from 96.7% to 98.6%, with RSD of less than 3.2%. Therefore, 10% KOH was used to digest organic tissue for separating the microplastics from the bivalves'digestive system. With this digestion system,the microplastics in Chlamys farreri from local markets and Mytilus galloprovincialis from both local markets and wild environments in Qingdao were separated and analyzed. The results showed that microplastics were found in over 80% of the individuals purchased from the market and 40% in the collected wild individuals. The average abundance of microplastics in Chlamys farreri purchased from different markets varied from 5.2 to 19.4 items/individual and 3.2-7.1 items/g, while in Mytilus galloprovincialis, the numbers varied from 1.9 to 9.6 items/individual and 2.0-12.8 items/g. Farmed mussels contained more microplastics (average 1. 9 items/individual, 3. 17 items/g) than wild mussels (average 0.53 items/individual, 2.0 items/g). There were various colors of microplastics. The detected microplastics came from three shapes: fibers, fragments and granules. Fibrous microplastics, being the most dominant ones,accounted for 84.11%. The average size of fibrous microplastics(0.66±0.70 mm) was larger than that of the other two shapes of microplastics. The number of microplastics decreased with increasing microplastic sizes. Microplastics of less than 500 μm coming from different markets were in the range of 26% to 84%. There was great spatial difference in the size of microplastics. The polymer composition of the microplastic was identified by μ-FT-IR. And it was found that the most common polymer component sin the samples were cellophane(CP),followed by polypropylene(PP). In the farmed mussels,PP was the most abundant component. The results showed that the abundance and types of microplastics in cultured or wild bivalves were closely related to their growing environment.