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Gastropod pedal mucus facilitates uptake of microplastics by marine periwinkles
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Gastropod pedal mucus retains microplastics and promotes the uptake of particles by marine periwinkles
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Marine periwinkles (snails) use sticky mucus to move along surfaces, and this study found that this mucus also traps and concentrates microplastic particles, facilitating their ingestion. This newly identified pathway increases the amount of microplastics that snails and similar mollusks consume from contaminated shorelines.
Number of microplastic particles on periwinkle pedal mucus in experimental setups
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This study investigated whether microplastic particles adhere to the pedal mucus produced by periwinkle snails during locomotion, testing this as a potential mechanism by which gastropods take up microplastics without directly ingesting them. The findings could explain how snails and other mucus-producing invertebrates accumulate microplastics from contaminated sediment surfaces.
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Land snails collected from forested and grassy sites in Oak Ridge, Tennessee were found to consistently contain 2–5 microplastic particles per individual across 400 specimens and 16 species, demonstrating widespread microplastic uptake in terrestrial gastropods. This research highlights that microplastic contamination extends into relatively undisturbed terrestrial habitats and accumulates in organisms with no direct aquatic exposure, suggesting airborne or soil-based uptake routes.
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Researchers documented for the first time that scleractinian corals on Australia's Great Barrier Reef actively ingest microplastics from surrounding water, raising serious concerns that plastic pollution could impair the feeding and health of reef-building corals already stressed by warming oceans.
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