Evaluation of Microplastics in the Shell and Soft Tissues of Green Mussel, Perna viridis from N4 Beach and Pulicat Lake, Tamil Nadu, India

Microplastics accumulate in the aquatic environment and are a major source for aquatic pollution in the freshwater and marine ecosystem. Mussels are well known bioindicators for pollution owing to their filter feeding habit and susceptiblity to microplastics uptake. In this preliminary study, green mussels, Perna viridis collected from two sites, N4 Beach (Site-1), Chennai district and Pulicat lake (Site-2), Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu, India were examined to isolate, identify, characterize and quantify the amount of microplastics present in the green mussel’s shell and soft tissue. Extraction and characterization of microplastics from the samples were conducted using wet peroxide oxidation method, Phase contrast microscope and FT-IR respectively. Results showed higher concentration of microplastics on an average of 228±24.463 items, in Green mussels from Site-1 with 39% in shell flushed water and 61% in the soft tissues. Most common microplastics from both the sites were fragmented shape, black colour and size range >200µm. The dominant polymers as microplastics were identified as Polyvinyl chloride [PVC] in the shell and soft tissue of Site-1 green mussels, whereas Polyurethane [PU] in Site-2. This study reveals the underlying threat to human health through an exposure to the impact of microplastics pollution as green mussels are consumed on a large scale.