Occurrence of microplastics in pellets from the common kingfisher ( Alcedo atthis ) along the Ticino River, North Italy
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Occurrence of microplastics in pellets from the common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) along the Ticino River, North Italy Anna Winkler 1 & Alessandro Nessi 1 & Diego Antonioli 2 & Michele Laus 2 & Nadia Santo 3 & Marco Parolini 1 & Paolo Tremolada 1 Received: 25 February 2020 / Accepted: 16 July 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Previous research has reported avian plastic ingestion in marine bird species. Yet, while research attention on plastic pollution is shifting from marine to freshwater ecosystems, very few information on plastic ingestion is available for freshwater birds. Here, we examined the presence of microplastic in regurgitated pellets of the common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) collected along the Ticino River (North Italy). In total, 133 kingfisher’s pellets were examined between March and October 2019 from 54 transects along the river. Plastic elements were detected and identified by visual inspection followed by μ-FTIR and SEM-EDS. Overall, we found 12 (micro)plastics from at least three different polymers in 7.5% of the pellets. This study provides the first report of plastic uptake of this bird species. It highlights the importance of spectroscopic techniques in plastic monitoring studies in order to avoid misidentification of items found. Documenting the presence of plastic ingestion by top carnivores such as fish-eating birds is necessary to understand the pervasiveness and impact of (micro)plastic pollution in food webs of freshwater ecosystems. Keywords Microplastic . Common kingfisher . Freshwater ecosystem . μ-FTIR . SEM-EDS . Plastic ingestion . Ticino River
Abbreviations EDS Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy μ-FTIR Micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy PE Polyethylene PET Polyethylene terephthalate PP Polypropylene PS Polystyrene PVC Polyvinyl chloride SEM Scanning electron microscopy
Responsible Editor: Christian Gagnon * Anna Winkler [email protected] 1
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy
2
University of Piemonte Orientale, DISIT, Via T. Michel 11, 15121 Alessandria, Italy
3
Unitech NOLIMITS, Imaging facility, University of Milan, Via Golgi 19, 20133 Milan, Italy
Introduction The interest in the study of microplastics (synthetic polymers < 5 mm in size; Arthur et al. 2009) in freshwater ecosystems is increasing continuously. The presence of microplastic in freshwater has been reported worldwide (Dris et al. 2018; Lahens et al. 2018; Mani et al. 2016, amongst others) and recently also in Italy (Campanale et al. 2019). Thus, it is not surprising that research attention is shifting towards the entire freshwater ecosystem and its food web, including fish-eating birds which are on the top level of this food web (Gochfeld et al. 1999). Several studies have investigated avian plastic ingestion in a wide array of marine species from offshore and coastal waters (e.g., Acampora et al. 2016; AveryGomm et al. 2013; Franco et al. 2019). However, information about (micro)plastic ingestion by cont
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