The objective of the present study was to evaluate the potential toxic effects of polyethylene microplastics (PE-MPs) (40-48 μm) on the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis in controlled laboratory conditions. The exposure was carried out for 14 days with three environmentally relevant PE-MPs concentrations of 1, 10, and 100 and a high concentration of 1000 μg/L. Effects of PE-MPs were assessed by evaluating the filtration rate (FR) after 7 and 14 days of exposure and by analyzing biochemical biomarkers of oxidative stress (catalase - CAT, glutathione S-transferase - GST, and the levels of lipid peroxidation - LPO) in the M. galloprovincialis digestive gland after 14 days of exposure. Results showed that M. galloprovincialis does not accumulate PE-MPs of 40-48 μm size in its whole tissues. The filtration rate was significantly reduced with the increase of PE-MPs concentrations. The biochemical biomarkers indicated that PE-MPs induced oxidative damage (LPO) at low concentrations (1 and 10 μg/L) with a significant reduction in females of 1000 μg/L treated group and inactivate antioxidative system (CAT and GST) in the digestive gland of both sexes at high concentrations (100 and 1000 μg/L). This study demonstrates that PE-MPs have biological effects on M. galloprovincialis at environmentally relevant concentrations thus brings new insights on the potential impacts of PE-MPs in marine bivalves.
Keywords: Biomarkers; Filtration rate; Microplastics; Mytilus galloprovincialis; Polyethylene.