Microplastics analysis in the gills and gastrointestinal tract of fishermen’s catch at Belawan River North Sumatera, Indonesia

Abstract Microplastics produce from macro sized plastics which are degraded into particles size 0.1 – 5 mm. Fish ingest microplastics because their mistake for food, with microplastics sizes as the size of category plankton species which are the food supply for fish microplastics ingest to the digestive organ and the gills. The research was catching a total of 93 specimens of the fish Oreochromis mossambicus, Channa striata, Plotosus canius, Scatophagus argus and Lutjanus indicus in February 2023 at Belawan River. Microplastics isolation analysed in animals’ laboratory, faculty of mathematics and natural sciences, Universitas Sumatera Utara Indonesia. According to the results, there was three shapes of microplastics, fiber, fragments, and films. A total of 134 microplastics particles were 5 species of sample, O. mossambicus were 9.7 abundance of microplastics, C. striata were 3.6 abundance of microplastics, P. canius were 12 abundance of microplastics, S. argus were 6.0 abundance of microplastics and L. indicus were 4.3 abundance of microplastics . The colour of microplastics was found in 46 black, 32 green, 24 blue, 23 orange, 7 brown and 2 red.