Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Evaluation of uptake and chronic toxicity of virgin polystyrene microbeads in freshwater zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha (Mollusca: Bivalvia)

Researchers evaluated the uptake and chronic toxicity of virgin polystyrene microbeads in freshwater zebra mussels over an extended exposure period. The study found that mussels ingested and accumulated the particles, and higher concentrations induced measurable changes in cellular biomarkers and filtration behavior, suggesting that chronic microplastic exposure can affect the physiology of freshwater bivalves.

2018 The Science of The Total Environment 281 citations
Article Tier 2

A Comparative Assessment of the Chronic Effects of Micro- and Nano-Plastics on the Physiology of the Mediterranean Mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

Researchers compared the chronic effects of polystyrene microplastics and nanoplastics on Mediterranean mussels over a 21-day exposure at very low concentrations. They found that nanoplastics generally produced stronger biological responses than microplastics, including greater impacts on immune function, oxidative stress, and neurotoxicity markers. The study suggests that smaller plastic particles may pose greater risks to marine filter feeders even at trace environmental concentrations.

2021 Nanomaterials 89 citations
Article Tier 2

Ingestion and Toxicity of Polystyrene Microplastics in Freshwater Bivalves

Researchers investigated microplastic ingestion in the freshwater mussel Dreissena polymorpha using polystyrene spheres of various sizes. They found that mussels rapidly ingested microplastics and that body burden was influenced by exposure time, body size, food abundance, and microplastic concentration, providing important baseline data on how freshwater bivalves interact with microplastic pollution.

2021 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 85 citations
Article Tier 2

Determination of bioaccumulation of polystyrene nanoplastics in mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and their impact on enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidative stress mechanisms

Researchers assessed the bioaccumulation of polystyrene nanoplastics in the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and measured enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant stress responses after 4 days of exposure to 1 mg/L of 54 nm particles. Nanoplastics accumulated in mussel tissues and triggered significant oxidative stress responses, including altered superoxide dismutase and catalase activity, indicating toxicological effects at environmentally relevant concentrations.

2024 Juraj Dobrila University of Pula Digital Repository
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene micro and nanoplastics: A comparative study of the cytotoxic effects exerted on Mytilus galloprovincialis gills

Researchers compared the toxic effects of micro-sized and nano-sized polystyrene particles on the gills of Mediterranean mussels. Both sizes caused oxidative damage, tissue alterations, and immune responses, but nanoplastics consistently produced more severe effects. The findings suggest that smaller plastic particles pose a greater threat to the gill function of filter-feeding shellfish, potentially impairing their ability to collect food and breathe.

2025 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of nanopolystyrene on the feeding behavior of the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis L.)

Researchers investigated how 30-nanometer polystyrene particles affect the feeding behavior of blue mussels. They found that exposure to nanoplastics caused mussels to produce pseudofeces, increase total waste output, and reduce filtering activity, indicating that nanoplastics disrupt normal feeding processes in these organisms.

2012 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 531 citations
Article Tier 2

Physiological effects of plastic particles on mussels are mediated by food presence

Thick shell mussels exposed to polystyrene nanoplastics (70 nm) and microplastics (10 µm) with and without microalgae food found that food presence mediated the physiological effects — microplastics reduced energy budget and increased oxidative stress markers most strongly when food was mixed with particles.

2020 Journal of Hazardous Materials 95 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene nanoplastics in the marine mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis.

This study investigated how polystyrene nanoplastics affect Mediterranean mussels, an important marine species and human food source. Researchers found that these tiny plastic particles can cross cell membranes, accumulate in tissues, and trigger oxidative stress and immune responses. The findings suggest that nanoplastic pollution in the ocean could affect both marine ecosystem health and the safety of seafood consumed by people.

2023 Environmental Pollution 40 citations
Article Tier 2

Confounding factors affect hemocyte responses of mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis upon foodborne exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics of three sizes

Mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) were fed polystyrene nanoplastics at three sizes (50, 200, 1000 nm) and two doses for 7 days, revealing size- and dose-dependent effects on hemocyte immune function, with smaller particles causing greater cellular disruption.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment
Article Tier 2

First evidence of protein modulation by polystyrene microplastics in a freshwater biological model

Zebra mussels were exposed to polystyrene microbeads (1 and 10 μm) for 6 days and analyzed by mass spectrometry-based proteomics, with both particle sizes producing significant changes in protein expression linked to oxidative stress, immune function, and cellular structure. The study provides the first proteomic evidence that microplastics disrupt molecular pathways in a freshwater bivalve model organism.

2019 Environmental Pollution 82 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of exposure to nanoplastics on the gill of mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis: An integrated perspective from multiple biomarkers

Researchers exposed Mediterranean mussels to polystyrene nanoplastics for seven days and measured multiple gill biomarkers, finding that nanoplastics triggered oxidative stress, inhibited acetylcholinesterase, disrupted sodium-potassium ion transport, and impaired energy and lipid metabolism, pointing to broad physiological interference in marine invertebrates.

2023 Marine Environmental Research 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of size-fractionation on toxicity of marine microplastics: Enhanced integrated biomarker assessment in the tropical mussels, Perna viridis

Researchers studied how different sizes of polystyrene microplastics (0.5, 5, and 50 micrometers) affect toxicity in tropical green mussels. The study found that smaller microplastics caused greater bioaccumulation and more severe toxic effects, including oxidative stress and tissue damage, indicating that size is a critical factor in determining microplastic toxicity in marine organisms.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 41 citations
Article Tier 2

High microplastic exposure affects survival and health of Dreissena spp. mussels: implications for freshwater pollution monitoring

Researchers tested whether Dreissena mussels could serve as bioindicators for freshwater microplastic pollution by exposing them to polyethylene microbeads for two months. At high concentrations, the mussels showed decreased health indicators and increased mortality within 15 days, while lower concentrations had no significant effect. The study supports using these filter-feeding mussels as practical biological monitors for assessing microplastic contamination levels in freshwater ecosystems.

2025 Environmental Pollution 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicity of environmental and polystyrene plastic particles on the bivalve Corbicula fluminea: focus on the molecular responses

Researchers exposed freshwater bivalves to environmental microplastics and nanoplastics collected from a river, as well as to laboratory polystyrene nanoparticles, and measured molecular-level responses. Gene expression analysis revealed that plastic particle exposure activated stress response and immune defense pathways in gill and visceral tissues. The study indicates that even environmentally relevant concentrations of plastic particles can trigger measurable biological stress in filter-feeding organisms.

2024 Ecotoxicology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxic Impact of Polystyrene Microplastics (PS-MPs) on Freshwater Mussel Lamellidens marginalis

Researchers exposed freshwater mussels to polystyrene microplastic fibers for up to 15 days and measured changes in biochemical parameters across multiple tissues. The study found reduced protein levels and enzyme activity changes in gills, hepatopancreas, mantle, and foot tissues, with the integrated biomarker response indicating progressively worsening physiological stress over the exposure period.

2026 Microplastics
Article Tier 2

Effect of size continuum from nanoplastics to microplastics on marine mussel Mytilus edulis: Comparison in vitro/in vivo exposure scenarios

Researchers compared the effects of nanoplastics versus microplastics on marine mussels using both in vivo and in vitro approaches, finding that smaller plastic particles caused greater cellular and physiological impacts across the size continuum.

2022 Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C Toxicology & Pharmacology 33 citations
Article Tier 2

Toxicity assessment of environmental MPs and NPs and polystyrene NPs on the bivalve Corbicula fluminea using a multi-marker approach

Researchers compared the toxicity of commercial polystyrene nanoplastics with environmental micro- and nanoplastics collected from the Garonne River on freshwater bivalves, finding that real-world environmental particles induced distinct biological responses compared to laboratory standards.

2023 Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C Toxicology & Pharmacology 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Uptake and Retention of Nanoplastics in Quagga Mussels

Experiments tested whether the invasive freshwater mussel Dreissena bugensis (quagga mussel) takes up and retains nanoplastics, finding that the mussels ingested and retained nano-sized plastic particles in their tissues after exposure. Quagga mussels, already widely distributed in North American and European waterways, could serve as both sentinels for nanoplastic monitoring and vectors for nanoplastic entry into food webs.

2019 Global Challenges 69 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanoplastics Elicit Stage-Specific Physiological, Biochemical, and Gut Microbiome Responses in a Freshwater Mussel

Researchers exposed freshwater mussels at different growth stages to polystyrene nanoplastics and found that the particles caused intestinal damage, increased oxidative stress, and disrupted gut bacteria communities. Adult mussels were more vulnerable than younger ones, showing greater biochemical disruption at lower concentrations. The study suggests that nanoplastic pollution may pose different levels of risk depending on an organism's life stage, with mature animals potentially being more susceptible.

2025 Toxics 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Oxidative Stress in Mussel Mytilus trossulus Induced by Different-Sized Plastics

Researchers exposed mussels to both tiny polystyrene microparticles and larger polyethylene plastic fragments and found that both sizes triggered oxidative stress in the animals. The plastic exposure caused DNA damage, weakened cellular membranes, and destabilized immune cell structures in the mussels' gills and digestive glands. The findings indicate that plastics of any size and polymer type can be harmful to marine filter-feeding organisms.

2024 Journal of Xenobiotics 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Immunotoxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics in different hemocyte subpopulations of Mytilus galloprovincialis

Researchers exposed hemocyte subpopulations of Mytilus galloprovincialis mussels to polystyrene nanoplastics and found that different immune cell types responded differently, with some showing increased mortality and lysosomal damage at environmentally relevant concentrations.

2020 Scientific Reports 90 citations
Article Tier 2

Chronic toxicity of polystyrene nanoparticles in the marine mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

Researchers exposed Mediterranean mussels to polystyrene nanoplastics (50 nm, 10 µg/L) for 21 days and found genotoxicity in blood cells and overwhelmed antioxidant defenses in gills and digestive glands, with gills showing the most severe tissue-level oxidative damage over time.

2021 Chemosphere 70 citations
Article Tier 2

Histopathological analysis of mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis after foodborne exposure to three sizes of polystyrene nanoplastics: Relevance of confounding factors.

Scientists fed tiny plastic particles (nanoplastics) to mussels through their food to see if it caused health problems, since mussels are good indicators of ocean health and people eat them. The plastic particles did cause some tissue damage and inflammation in the mussels, but other factors like reproductive cycles and parasites had bigger effects on their health. This suggests that short-term exposure to small amounts of nanoplastics may not be as harmful as previously thought, though longer studies are still needed to understand the risks to both marine life and humans who eat seafood.

2026 Ecotoxicology and environmental safety
Article Tier 2

Impact of sub-chronic polystyrene nanoplastics exposure on hematology, histology, and endoplasmic reticulum stress-related protein expression in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

Researchers exposed Nile tilapia to polystyrene nanoplastics for an extended period and found the particles caused blood cell changes, tissue damage in the liver and gills, and activated stress responses in cellular structures called the endoplasmic reticulum. Even the lowest concentration tested, which matches levels found in the environment, triggered harmful effects. Since tilapia is one of the most consumed farmed fish worldwide, these results highlight potential food safety concerns from nanoplastic contamination in aquaculture.

2024 Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 13 citations