Determination of microplastics in commercial black soldier fly larvae hermetia illucens, (diptera: stratiomyidae)

The use of plastics has been widely used and is a major contributor to environmental and ecosystem pollution. There have been many studies that have been reported in the presence and effects of microplastics in many environments but no studies have been done in Malaysia on the commercial black soldier fly. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the occurrence of microplastics within the commercial black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens). The sample of commercial black soldier fly larvae was acquired from local supplier of A BSFL Farming in Pulau Pinang, B BSFL Farming in Batu Caves Selangor and C BSFL Farming in Hulu Langat Selangor. The sample was separated into nine replicates. There were five types of microplastics polymers that have been identified through fourier transform spectroscopy (FT-IR) namely Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), Polydiene, Nylon and Polyethylene. This study shows that there were microplastics in BSFL.