Page - 113 - in Freshwater Microplastics - Emerging Environmental Contaminants?

3.3 Plastics andMPs inLakeVictoria Together these two cases provide compelling evidence that plastic debris in the TanzanianwatersofLakeVictoria issubject todegradationandtheproductsof that breakdown are available for ingestion by resident piscine populations. While Ngupula et al. [16] found fishing to be the predominant source of debris, the Table 2 Polymers recovered from the gastrointestinal tracts of sampled fish and their common uses andpotential sourceof plastic pollution inLakeVictoria Polymer Commonuses andpotential sources PE/PPcopolymera Packaging, carrier bags Polyethylene Carrier bags, foodwrappers, beverage bottles Polyester Beveragebottles, textile (clothing, carpets, curtains) Polyurethane Insulation, sealants, packaging Silicone rubber Industrial sealants.O-rings,molds, food storage aPE (polyethylene)/PP (polypropylene) 3500 3000 2500 Wavenumber cm−1 2000 1500 1000 500 3500 3000 2500 Wavenumber cm−1 2000 1500 1000 500 Fig. 3 Variety of plastic debris recovered fromNile perch and Nile tilapia. Images (a–e) are examplesof the rangeofpolymers isolatedafterNaOHdigestionof thegastrointestinal tissue. In each case the identity of the polymer was confirmed by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Spectra attributed to silicone rubber (d) and polyethylene/polypropylene copolymer (e) debris are shown next to their respective plastic samples Microplastics in InlandAfricanWaters: Presence, Sources, andFate 113