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Microplastic contamination in tadpoles (Anura) in the Brazilian Amazon

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Abstract

The potential risks posed by microplastics (MPs) to anuran tadpoles remain poorly studied in the Brazilian Amazon region. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze MP contamination in Scinax x-signatus tadpoles at two developmental stages, as well as to characterize and quantify MPs. In addition, we evaluated MP concentrations in surface water and their relationship with environmental characteristics. The study was conducted at the Gunma Ecological Park, Santa Bárbara, Pará, Brazil, across five sampling sites during April 2025. We identified MP contamination in both surface water and tadpoles from all sampled sites. Environmental characteristics showed no direct relationship with MP contamination in tadpoles. However, tadpoles in the pre-metamorphic stage exhibited higher levels of MP contamination than those in the pro-metamorphic stage. A correlation was observed between tadpole body weight (g) and MP concentration, indicating that MP ingestion decreased as body weight increased. This study is the first to report in situ MP contamination in anuran tadpoles from the Amazon region, demonstrating the susceptibility of these organisms to contamination by this pollutant.

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Data availability

The data are available upon request to the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the members of Grupo de Pesquisa em Histologia de Espécies Aquáticas (GPHEA) and members of Laboratório Multidisciplinar de Morfofisiologia Animal (LAMMOA) for the assistance provided in the execution of this work.

Funding

This work was funded by: Coordination for the improvement of Higher Education Personnel –Fabrielle Barbosa de Araújo (88887.949785/2024-00); National Council for Scientific and Technological Development – Rossineide M. Rocha (303140/2022-4), André Mourão Batista (2024/07162-0), Niklaus U. Wetter (3085262021-0) and Anderson Z. Freitas (300313/2025-0) and São Paulo Research Foundation – Centro de Lasers e Aplicações (FAPESP 2021/04334-7, FAPESP-EMU- 2018/19240-5).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Multidisciplinary Laboratory of Animal Morphophysiology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará, 66075-110, Brazil

    Fabrielle Barbosa de Araújo & Verônica Regina Lobato de Oliveira-Bahia

  2. Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém, 66075-110, Pará, Brazil

    Maria Luiza Cunha e Souza-Ferreira

  3. Botany Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará, 66075-110, Brazil

    Winston Asafe Santos da Rocha Sepaul, André Mourão Batista & Rosildo Santos Paiva

  4. Nuclear and Energy Research Institute – São Paulo – Brazil, IPEN, São Paulo, SP, 05508- 000, Brazil

    Anderson Zanardi Freitas & Niklaus Ursus Wetter

  5. Cellular Ultrastructure Laboratory, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém, Pará, 66075-110, Brazil

    Fabrielle Barbosa de Araújo & Rossineide Martins da Rocha

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  1. Fabrielle Barbosa de Araújo
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  2. Maria Luiza Cunha e Souza-Ferreira
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Contributions

Araújo: Methodology, Data collection, Formal analysis, Manuscript writing; Souza-ferreira: Data collection, Formal analysis, Manuscript review; Sepaul: Methodology; Batista: Methodology; Freitas: Funding, Conception; Wetter: Funding, Conception; Paiva: Methodology; Oliveira-Bahia: Resources, Conception, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Manuscript Review; Rocha: Resources, Conception, Formal Analysis, Manuscript Review.

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Fabrielle Barbosa de Araújo.

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de Araújo, F.B., Souza-Ferreira, M.L.C.e., da Rocha Sepaul, W.A.S. et al. Microplastic contamination in tadpoles (Anura) in the Brazilian Amazon.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-44742-8

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Keywords

  • Polymers
  • Microhabitat
  • Water pollution
  • Amphibians
  • Biomass

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