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Microplastic contamination and pollutant levels in mussels and cockles collected along the channel coasts
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Researchers analyzed microplastic contamination in blue mussels and cockles from the English Channel coastline in France, finding that 34 to 58 percent of the bivalves contained microplastics. They also measured plastic additives and organic pollutants in the tissues but found no significant correlation between microplastic loads and chemical contaminant levels. The study suggests that while commercially harvested bivalves are routinely contaminated with microplastics, the relationship between particle ingestion and chemical pollutant accumulation is not straightforward.
Nowadays, environmental pollution by microplastics (<5 mm; MP) is a major issue. MP are contaminating marine organisms consumed by humans. This work studied MP contamination in two bivalve species of commercial interest: blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) and common cockle (Cerastoderma edule) sampled on the Channel coastlines (France). In parallel, 13 plastic additives and 27 hydrophobic organic compounds (HOC) were quantified in bivalves flesh using SBSE-TD-GS-MS/MS to explore a possible relationship between their concentrations and MP contamination levels. MP were extracted using a 10% potassium hydroxide digestion method then identified by μ-Raman spectroscopy. The proportion of contaminated bivalves by MP ranged from 34 to 58%. Blue mussels and common cockles exhibited 0.76 ± 0.40 and 2.46 ± 1.16 MP/individual and between 0.15 ± 0.06 and 0.74 ± 0.35 MP/g of tissue wet weight. Some HOC and plastic additives were detected in bivalves. However, no significant Pearson or Spearman correlation was found between MP loads and plastic additives or HOC concentrations in bivalve tissues for the two species.
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