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Marine and freshwater mussels as biomonitors for microplastic concentrations: A comparative laboratory study

Aquatic Toxicology 2025 Score: 38 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Adèle Wolinski, Adèle Wolinski, Adèle Wolinski, Adèle Wolinski, Franck Lartaud, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Adèle Wolinski, Miléna Ferret, Miléna Ferret, Miléna Ferret, Miléna Ferret, Miléna Ferret, Miléna Ferret, Édouard Lavergne, Miléna Ferret, Adèle Wolinski, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Miléna Ferret, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Basile Bergeron, Isabelle Calvès, Audrey M. Pruski, Édouard Lavergne, Basile Bergeron, Basile Bergeron, Basile Bergeron, Isabelle Calvès, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Édouard Lavergne, Basile Bergeron, Basile Bergeron, Loïc Tettling, Isabelle Calvès, Loïc Tettling, Loïc Tettling, Loïc Tettling, Isabelle Calvès, Loïc Tettling, Isabelle Calvès, Isabelle Calvès, Audrey M. Pruski, Audrey M. Pruski, Isabelle Calvès, Isabelle Calvès, Isabelle Calvès, Isabelle Calvès, Loïc Tettling, Loïc Tettling, Loïc Tettling, Franck Lartaud, Franck Lartaud, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Isabelle Calvès, Isabelle Calvès, Franck Lartaud, Franck Lartaud, Édouard Lavergne, Édouard Lavergne, Édouard Lavergne, Édouard Lavergne, Audrey M. Pruski, Édouard Lavergne, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Audrey M. Pruski, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Édouard Lavergne, Audrey M. Pruski, Audrey M. Pruski, Audrey M. Pruski, Franck Lartaud, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Franck Lartaud, Isabelle Calvès, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Franck Lartaud, Isabelle Calvès, Isabelle Calvès, Isabelle Calvès, Isabelle Calvès, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Isabelle Calvès, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Franck Lartaud, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Franck Lartaud, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Franck Lartaud, Franck Lartaud, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Franck Lartaud, Franck Lartaud, Franck Lartaud, Édouard Lavergne, Franck Lartaud, Franck Lartaud, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim Franck Lartaud, Anne‐Leïla Meistertzheim

Summary

Researchers compared marine and freshwater mussels as biomonitors for microplastic pollution in a controlled laboratory study, evaluating whether these filter-feeding bivalves can serve as a complementary monitoring tool to sampling nets — particularly for small microplastics under 25 µm that nets tend to miss.

Body Systems

Digestive

Models

Invertebrate other

Study Type Environmental

Microplastics are pervasive in both freshwater and marine waters, posing potential hazards to a wide range of species. Evaluating environmental microplastic pollution is crucial for ecological risk assessment. However, current monitoring methods, such as sampling nets, are inefficient for quantifying small microplastics (< 25 µm) and non-buoyant particles, leading to potential underestimation of pollution levels. Biomonitors, like suspension-feeding organisms, can serve as complementary tools. This study takes a first step in evaluating bivalves as biomonitors by assessing whether microplastic uptake in their tissues correlates with environmental concentrations in both marine and freshwater conditions. Two mussel models, the marine Mytilus galloprovincialis and the freshwater Dreissena spp., were exposed to varying concentrations of microplastics (from 0 to 2000 MPs.L) over 48 h. Both marine and freshwater mussels followed a linear model for MP uptake. However, an exponential model appeared more suitable for M. galloprovincialis whereas a Gaussian model better described the uptake pattern in Dreissena spp., suggesting the presence of a threshold in MP capture for the latter species. Microplastics primarily accumulated in the digestive gland compared to other tissues (i.e., byssus, gills, mantle, and others). After 48 h of depuration, marine mussels exhibited a high microplastic depuration rate (from 88 to 97%), while freshwater mussels showed moderate depuration ability (from 0 to 71%). These results support M. galloprovincialis as an effective biomonitor for marine microplastic pollution. In freshwaters, the non-linear accumulation of microplastics by Dreissena spp. limits their suitability for precise pollution assessment, but may help set pollution alert levels based on MP content and sub-lethal effects. This study contributes to addressing the challenge of accurate MP quantification in aquatic environments by highlighting the potential of bioindicators in complementing traditional methods.

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