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Consequences of combined exposure to thermal stress and the plasticiser DEHP in Mytilus spp. differ by sex
Summary
Scientists found that warming waters and DEHP (a chemical used to soften plastics) affect male and female mussels differently, with males being more sensitive to heat stress and females showing changes tied to the plastic chemical. This matters because mussels are a popular seafood, and these combined stressors could disrupt their breeding cycles, potentially affecting seafood supplies as ocean temperatures rise and plastic pollution continues, while also raising questions about how DEHP exposure (which humans encounter too, through food and plastic products) might affect reproductive health more broadly.
Little is known about the combined effect of environmental factors and contaminants on commercially important marine species, and whether this effect differs by sex. In this study, blue mussels were exposed for seven days to both single and combined stressors (i.e., +3 °C elevated temperature and two environmentally relevant concentrations of the plastic softener DEHP, 0.5 and 50 μg/l) in a factorial design. Males were observed to be more sensitive to high temperature, demonstrated by the significant increase in out-of-season spawning gonads and higher gene expression of the antioxidant catalase and the estrogen receptor genes. On the other hand, while the gametogenesis cycle in females was more resilient than in males, DEHP exposure altered the estrogen-related receptor gene expression. We show that the combined stressors DEHP and increased temperature, in environmentally relevant magnitudes, have different consequences in male and female mussels, with the potential to impact the timing and breeding season success in Mytilus spp.