Effects of microplastics alone or with sorbed oil compounds from the water accommodated fraction of a North Sea crude oil on marine mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis)

Microplastics (MPs) can adsorb persistent organic pollutants such as oil hydrocarbons and may facilitate their transfer to organisms (Trojan horse effect). The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a 21 day dietary exposure to polystyrene MPs of 4.5 mu m at 1000 particles/mL, alone and with sorbed oil compounds from the water accommodated fraction (WAF) of a naphthenic North Sea crude oil at two dilutions (25 % and 100 %), on marine mussels. An addi-tional group of mussels was exposed to 25 % WAF for comparison. PAHs were accumulated in mussels exposed to WAF but not in those exposed to MPs with sorbed oil compounds from WAF (MPs-WAF), partly due to the low concen-tration of PAHs in the studied crude oil. Exposure to MPs or to WAF alone altered the activity of enzymes involved in aerobic (isocitrate dehydrogenase) and biotransformation metabolism (glutathione S-transferase). Prevalence of oo-cyte atresia and volume density of basophilic cells were higher and absorption efficiency lower in mussels exposed to MPs and to WAF than in controls. After 21 days MPs caused DNA damage (Comet assay) in mussel hemocytes. In conclusion, a Trojan horse effect was not observed but both MPs and oil WAF caused an array of deleterious effects on marine mussels at different levels of biological organization.

Automated summary

The study revealed that both microplastics and oil compounds have deleterious effects on marine mussels at different levels of biological organization, including impacting enzyme activity, reproductive cells, and DNA damage.