re-publicado de: https://lemmy.ml/post/47108953

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Pesquisadores registraram microplásticos em pequenos girinos e seus habitats na floresta Amazônica pela primeira vez. Os estudos anteriores na região revelaram amostras com microplásticos em peixes, invertebrados, solo e água. Isso confirma a contaminação por microplásticos na região amazônica. Num estudo recente, a ecologista Farbrielle Barbossa Araújo da Universidade Federal do Pará juntamente com seus colegas coletaram 20 amostras de água de 5 diferentes fontes (poças de água) formadas por acumulação de água da chuva em depressões no solo no Parque Ecológico de Gunma (Pará) no mês de abril de 2025. Essas poças temporárias são importantes sítios de reprodução e desenvolvimento larval de várias espécies de sapos na Amazônia.

Para cada uma das cinco poças de água os pesquisadores também coletaram 100 girinos da espécie Scinax Signatus comumente encontrada em áreas urbanas e florestais pela América do Sul.

Os pesquisadores encontraram micro-plásticos em cada amostra e cada girino. A maioria dos micro-plásticos eram transparente, fibras azuis e pretas feitas de plástico como o poliéster. Outros estudos também encontraram fibras azuis e pretas similares pela Amazônia, possivelmente originárias do esgoto e atividades de pesca, dizem os pesquisadores.

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“As pesquisas sobre a presença de micro-plásticos na Amazônia se intensificaram com os anos, e nosso objetivo é continuar monitorando essa contaminação, especialmente nessa espécie de girino, para assim entender o impacto desse poluente na biodiversidade de nossa região.” relata Farbrielle Araújo

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cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/11566317

Banner image of a Venezuela snouted treefrog by Taucce et al., 2022, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).

Study finds microplastics in tadpoles in the Amazon for the first time

Researchers have recorded microplastics in frog tadpoles and their pond habitats in the wild in the Amazon for the first time, according to a new study. This confirms widespread microplastic contamination in the Amazon Rainforest, the researchers say.

Previous studies from the region have found microplastic contamination in fish, invertebrates, soil and water samples.

In the recent study, ecologist Fabrielle Barbosa de Araújo from the Federal University of Pará and her colleagues collected 20 water samples from five natural water bodies formed by the accumulation of rainwater in soil depressions at Gunma Ecological Park in Pará state in April 2025. These temporary ponds are important breeding sites and larval development areas for various frog species in the Amazon.

From each of the five ponds, the researchers also collected 100 tadpoles of the Venezuela snouted treefrog (Scinax x-signatus), commonly found in both forests and urban areas across South America.

The researchers found microplastics in each sampled pond and tadpole. Most of the microplastics were transparent, blue and black fibers made of plastic like polyester. Other studies have also found similar blue and transparent fibers across the Amazon, possibly originating from sanitary sewage and fishing activities, the researchers write.

Araújo told Mongabay by email that finding microplastics in the tadpoles and their habitats was not surprising as several previous studies have shown microplastic contamination in other organisms in the Amazon. “What really caught our attention was the large quantity found, especially because this is an area with low [human] population density and considered relatively well preserved,” she said.

Araújo said she’s particularly concerned about microplastics in the tadpoles because the “contamination can negatively affect the health of amphibians, causing genetic and morphological damage, such as alterations in blood cells and in the DNA itself.” She added that microplastic particles can also accumulate in tissues and cause physiological changes in frogs.

The authors write that tadpoles of the Venezuela snouted treefrog eat algae, fungi and eggs in water and may have ingested the microplastics that way.

“Research on the presence of microplastics in the Amazon has intensified in recent years, and our goal is to continue monitoring this contamination, especially in anuran tadpoles, in order to better understand how this pollutant is affecting the biodiversity of our region,” Araújo said.

“This study provides the first evidence that microplastics are reaching tadpoles in the Amazon, a region where we have very limited data,” Jess Hua, an ecologist who studies freshwater ecology and amphibians and wasn’t affiliated with the study, told Mongabay by email. “This is important because amphibians represent the most threatened vertebrate taxa and understanding potential threats, including from microplastics, is important to their conservation.”

Hua added that microplastic contamination in freshwater systems is still much less studied compared to marine systems.___