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Spatial variability of phthalates contamination in the reef-building corals Porites lutea, Pocillopora verrucosa and Pavona varians
Summary
More than 95% of reef-building corals sampled across several species and reef sites in French Polynesia contained phthalate plasticizers, with concentrations up to 172 nanograms per gram, suggesting widespread and ubiquitous contamination. The study establishes phthalates as a novel, previously unrecognized form of contamination in coral reef ecosystems.
Microplastic pollution represents a serious hazard for the marine environment, including coral reefs. Scleractinian corals can easily mistake microplastics with their natural preys, and ingest them and all the annexed plasticizer additives. Here we selectively searched on field for five phthalates esters (PAEs) namely dibutyl-phthalate (DBP), benzylbutyl-phthalate (BBzP), diethyl-phthalate (DEP), Bis(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (DEHP), and dimethyl-phthalate (DMP) in the coral species Pocillopora verrucosa, Porites lutea and Pavona varians. Our data reveal that >95% of corals sampled were contaminated, with a maximum of 172.4 ng/g, a value 7 time-fold higher than those found in a previous study. The Σ PAEs showed an average of about 30 ng/g per coral, but no differences in PAEs contamination was detected between species, depth or reef exposure. Despite their effects on coral physiology are not yet known, PAEs should be now considered as a novel, and ubiquitous, form of contamination in corals.