Carlo Giacomo Avio, Stefania Gorbi, Massimo Milan, Maura Benedetti,
Daniele Fattorini, Giuseppe d’Errico, Marianna Pauletto, Luca
Bargelloni, Francesco Regoli, Pollutants bioavailability and
toxicological risk from microplastics to marine mussels, Environmental
Pollution, Volume 198, March 2015, Pages 211-222, ISSN 0269-7491,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2014.12.021.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749114005211)
Abstract: Microplastics represent a growing environmental concern for
the oceans due to their potential of adsorbing chemical pollutants, thus
representing a still unexplored source of exposure for aquatic
organisms. In this study polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS)
microplastics were shown to adsorb pyrene with a time and dose-dependent
relationship. Results also indicated a marked capability of contaminated
microplastics to transfer this model PAH to exposed mussels Mytilus
galloprovincialis; tissue localization of microplastics occurred in
haemolymph, gills and especially digestive tissues where a marked
accumulation of pyrene was also observed. Cellular effects included
alterations of immunological responses, lysosomal compartment,
peroxisomal proliferation, antioxidant system, neurotoxic effects, onset
of genotoxicity; changes in gene expression profile was also
demonstrated through a new DNA microarray platform. The study provided
the evidence that microplastics adsorb PAHs, emphasizing an elevated
bioavailability of these chemicals after the ingestion, and the
toxicological implications due to responsiveness of several molecular
and cellular pathways to microplastics.
Keywords: Microplastic; PAHs; Bioavailability; Biomarkers; Mussels;
Transcriptomics