Determination of microplastics in commercial bivalves and estimation of exposure among population in Pasir Penambang, Kuala Selangor

Microplastics (MPs) pollution has gained global attention because of the severe harm to the surrounding environment, especially to the marine life and even human. Microplastics present everywhere in human daily life, whether in the water, the food or the air that can cause a serious health hazard to human especially through ingestion of food that are polluted with microplastics. Thus, this study aims to determine the characteristic and abundance of microplastics in different types of commercial bivalves and to assess the potential risk exposure through ingestion of microplastics to humans. Different types of the most commercially popular bivalves which are blood cockle, Textile venus clam, green mussel and hard clam were obtained from Pasar Basah Pasir Penambang. This cross-sectional study was conducted at Pasar Basah Pasir Penambang, Kuala Selangor through a random sampling method. The data analysis was analyzed using SPSS software through a non-parametric Kruskall-Wallis test, the microplastics concentration between different bivalves sample is significantly different with value p˂0.05. The results of the study also found that fiber is the most common form of microplastic found in all bivalves’ samples, and black is the dominant color of microplastic found.