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Microplastics aggravate the bioaccumulation and corresponding food safety risk of antibiotics in edible bivalves by constraining detoxification-related processes
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Researchers found that microplastics increased the accumulation of antibiotics in three commercially important species of edible shellfish. The microplastics interfered with the animals' natural detoxification processes, making it harder for them to clear antibiotic residues from their tissues. The study raises food safety concerns, suggesting that microplastic-contaminated coastal waters could lead to higher antibiotic levels in the seafood people consume.
Characterized by a sessile filter-feeding lifestyle, commercial marine bivalves inhabiting pollution-prone coastal areas may accumulate significant amounts of pollutants, such as antibiotic residues, in their soft tissues and thus pose a potential threat to the health of seafood consumers. Microplastics are another type of emerging pollutant that are prevalent in coastal areas and have been reported to interact with common antibiotics such as enrofloxacin (ENR) and trimethoprim (TMP). Nevertheless, little is known about the impacts of MPs on the accumulation and corresponding food safety risk of antibiotics in edible bivalve species. Taking the frequently detected ENR, TMP, and polystyrene (PS)-MPs as representatives, the accumulation of above-mentioned antibiotics in three commercial bivalves with or without the copresence of MPs was assessed. In addition, the corresponding food safety risks of consuming antibiotic-contaminated bivalves were evaluated. Moreover, the impacts of these pollutants on detoxification-related processes were analyzed using the thick-shell mussel as a representative. Our results demonstrated that blood clams (Tegillarca granosa), thick-shell mussels (Mytilus coruscus), and Asiatic hard clams (Meretrix meretrix) accumulated significantly higher amounts of antibiotics in their bodies under antibiotic-MP coexposure scenarios. Although based on the target hazard quotients (THQs) and the margins of exposure (MoEs) obtained, the direct toxic risks of consuming ENR- or TMP-contaminated bivalves were negligible, the TMP residue accumulated in TMP-MP-coexposed mussels did surpass the maximum residue limits (MRLs) of the corresponding National Food Safety Standard of China, suggesting that other forms of potential risks should not be ignored. In addition, it was shown that the detoxification, energy provision, and antioxidant capacities of the thick-shell mussels were significantly hampered by exposure to the pollutants. In general, our data indicate that MPs may aggravate the accumulation and corresponding food safety risk of antibiotics in edible bivalves by disrupting detoxification-related processes, which deserves closer attention.
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