Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

The effect of different types of microplastic and acute cadmium exposure on the Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819)

This study examined how different types of microplastics, alone and combined with cadmium, affect Mediterranean mussels that are widely consumed as seafood. Exposure to microplastics and cadmium caused oxidative stress, tissue damage, and neurotoxicity in the mussels, with combined exposure being worse than either pollutant alone. The health risk calculations for human consumers exceeded safety limits, suggesting that microplastic-contaminated mussels could pose a real food safety concern.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Co-exposure to Microplastics and Cadmium on the Binding of Protamine-like Proteins to DNA in Mytilus Galloprovincialis

Researchers found that co-exposure of Mytilus galloprovincialis mussels to microplastics and cadmium disrupted the binding of protamine-like proteins to sperm DNA, potentially compromising chromatin integrity and fertilization success in an already-stressed marine environment.

2025 Journal of Biological Research - Bollettino della Società Italiana di Biologia Sperimentale
Article Tier 2

Impacts of Microplastics, Cadmium, and Their Mixtures on Biochemical Biomarkers in the Freshwater Bivalve Corbicula fluminea (Bivalvia, Corbiculidea)

This study evaluated the combined impacts of microplastics and cadmium on biochemical biomarkers in a freshwater organism, finding that co-exposure caused greater oxidative stress and cellular damage than either contaminant alone. Microplastics appear to enhance cadmium bioavailability and toxicity.

2024 Diversity 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Impact of environmental microplastics alone and mixed with benzo[a]pyrene on cellular and molecular responses of Mytilus galloprovincialis

Researchers exposed Mediterranean mussels to environmentally collected microplastics from a beach, both alone and combined with the pollutant benzo[a]pyrene, at ecologically relevant concentrations. The study found that even short-term exposure caused cellular and molecular responses in the mussels, and the combination of microplastics with chemical pollutants produced different effects than either contaminant alone.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials 69 citations
Article Tier 2

Single and combined potential of polystyrene microparticles and fluoranthene in the induction of DNA damage in haemocytes of Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis)

Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) exposed to polystyrene microplastics with adsorbed fluoranthene showed greater DNA damage in immune cells than mussels exposed to either contaminant alone, suggesting a vector effect where microplastics amplify the genotoxicity of co-pollutants. Comet assay and micronucleus tests confirmed elevated genotoxicity under combined exposure.

2022 Mutagenesis 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Multilevel toxicity assessment of polypropylene microplastics and pyrene on mussels: DNA damage, oxidative stress, and physiological effects

An integrative study exposed Mediterranean mussels to polypropylene microplastics and pyrene for 7 and 14 days, finding combined exposure caused greater DNA damage, oxidative stress, and physiological impairment than either pollutant alone in heavily polluted coastal conditions.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Multi-Biomarker Responses of Asian Clam Corbicula fluminea (Bivalvia, Corbiculidea) to Cadmium and Microplastics Pollutants

Researchers exposed Asian clams to cadmium, microplastics, and their mixtures, then measured a battery of biomarkers including oxidative stress, energy metabolism, and neurotoxicity indicators. They found that the combined exposure to cadmium and microplastics produced interactive effects that differed from exposure to either contaminant alone. The study demonstrates that microplastics can modify the toxicity of heavy metals in freshwater bivalves, highlighting the importance of studying pollutant mixtures rather than individual contaminants.

2021 Water 61 citations
Article Tier 2

The Combined Effects of Cadmium and Microplastic Mixtures on the Digestion, Energy Metabolism, Oxidative Stress Regulation, Immune Function, and Metabolomes in the Pearl Oyster (Pinctada fucata martensii)

Researchers studied the combined effects of cadmium and microplastics on pearl oysters, measuring impacts on digestion, energy use, immune function, and metabolism. They found that co-exposure to both pollutants caused more severe damage than either alone, disrupting the oysters' antioxidant defenses and metabolic processes. The study highlights the compounding threat that metal and microplastic pollution together pose to marine shellfish.

2025 Fishes 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Untargeted Metabolomics Reveals Gonadal Metabolic Disruption in Mytilus Galloprovincialis Exposed to Cadmium and Microplastics

Untargeted GC-MS metabolomics of mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) gonads after combined cadmium and microplastic exposure revealed significant disruption of lipid and amino acid metabolism compared to single-contaminant exposures, suggesting synergistic reproductive toxicity.

2025 Journal of Biological Research - Bollettino della Società Italiana di Biologia Sperimentale
Article Tier 2

Environmental microplastics compromise reproduction of the marine invertebrate Mytilus galloprovincialis: A holistic approach

Exposing Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) gametes to 50 or 100 µg/L environmental microplastics for 1 hour reduced fertilization success, increased larval malformation rates, and caused DNA degradation, demonstrating reproductive toxicity from environmentally realistic MP concentrations.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as Vehicles of Environmental PAHs to Marine Organisms: Combined Chemical and Physical Hazards to the Mediterranean Mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis

Researchers exposed Mediterranean mussels to microplastics that had adsorbed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from contaminated harbor water and observed both physical and chemical hazard effects. The study found that microplastics acted as vehicles delivering PAHs to mussel tissues, causing cellular stress responses, immune modulation, and genotoxicity beyond what clean microplastics produced alone.

2018 Frontiers in Marine Science 383 citations
Article Tier 2

Ecotoxicological risk of microplastics for marine organisms

Italian researchers studied whether microplastics act as vectors for chemical pollutants by measuring how pyrene and cadmium adsorb onto polyethylene and polystyrene microplastics and transfer to mussels. They found evidence of contaminant transfer and cellular stress responses, raising concerns about the combined toxicity of microplastics and their associated chemicals.

2016 Università Politecnica delle Marche (Università Politecnica delle Marche)
Article Tier 2

Physiological and biochemical responses to caffeine and microplastics in Mytilus galloprovincialis

Researchers exposed Mediterranean mussels to caffeine and microplastics both separately and together to measure their combined effects. The combination caused greater oxidative stress and changes in cell function than either pollutant alone. While focused on mussels, the study is relevant to human health because mussels are widely eaten as seafood and can accumulate both microplastics and chemical contaminants.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 65 citations
Article Tier 2

Multilevel toxicity assessment of polypropylene microplastics and pyrene on mussels: DNA damage, oxidative stress, and physiological effects

Mussels were exposed to polypropylene microplastics and pyrene individually and together, revealing that DNA damage paradoxically decreased under co-exposure, suggesting complex antagonistic interactions between these two common marine pollutants.

2025 Marine Pollution Bulletin
Article Tier 2

Multilevel toxicity assessment of polypropylene microplastics and pyrene on mussels

Researchers assessed the combined effects of polypropylene microplastics and the pollutant pyrene on Mediterranean mussels over 14 days. They found that while each pollutant individually increased DNA damage, the combination surprisingly did not, suggesting a complex interaction between the two contaminants. However, the combined exposure compromised the mussels' physiological resilience, as shown by their slower heart rate recovery after stress, indicating that co-exposure to microplastics and pollutants can have nuanced biological effects.

2026 DiRROS repository (University of Maribor)
Article Tier 2

Potential genotoxicity impacts of a co-exposure of polypropylene microplastic and antibiotics to freshwater pearl mussel Hyriopsis cumingii (Lea, 1852)

Researchers assessed the genotoxic effects of combined polypropylene microplastic and antibiotic (sulfamethoxazole and oxytetracycline) exposure in freshwater pearl mussels. Co-exposure produced greater DNA damage and oxidative stress than either contaminant alone, indicating synergistic genotoxicity in this commercially important species.

2025 Vietnam Journal of Science and Technology/Science and Technology
Article Tier 2

Simultaneous exposure to microplastics and heavy metal lead induces oxidative stress, histopathological damage, and immune dysfunction in marine mussel Mytilus coruscus

When marine mussels were exposed to both microplastics and the heavy metal lead together, the combined effect was worse than either pollutant alone. The combination caused more severe tissue damage, higher oxidative stress, and greater immune system disruption, which is concerning because in real ocean environments, microplastics and heavy metals commonly occur together.

2024 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Multilevel toxicity assessment of polypropylene microplastics and pyrene on mussels: DNA damage, oxidative stress, and physiological effects

This dataset accompanies the integrative toxicity assessment of polypropylene microplastics and pyrene co-exposure in Mytilus galloprovincialis mussels, documenting DNA damage, oxidative stress, and physiological responses at environmentally relevant concentrations.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Micro-/nano-plastics as vectors of heavy metals and stress response of ciliates using transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses

This study examined how polystyrene microplastics and nanoplastics interact with cadmium to affect single-celled marine organisms called ciliates. The combined exposure was more toxic than either pollutant alone, disrupting the organisms' metabolism and stress responses at the genetic level. The findings demonstrate that microplastics can make heavy metal pollution worse by carrying metals into cells, a concern for marine food web contamination that could ultimately affect seafood safety.

2024 Environmental Pollution 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Adverse Effects of Co-Exposure to Cd and Microplastic in Tigriopus japonicus

Researchers exposed the marine copepod Tigriopus japonicus to combined cadmium and polystyrene microplastic exposure using a full concentration-response design. Co-exposure increased toxicity compared to either contaminant alone, with effects on survival, reproduction, and development, indicating synergistic or additive interactions between cadmium and microplastics.

2022 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Accumulation, Depuration, and Biological Effects of Polystyrene Microplastic Spheres and Adsorbed Cadmium and Benzo(a)pyrene on the Mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

Researchers found that mussels accumulated polystyrene microplastics in a size- and concentration-dependent manner, and that microplastics acted as carriers for the organic pollutant benzo(a)pyrene but not cadmium, with short-term exposure causing digestive gland alterations.

2022 Toxics 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling the interplay between environmental microplastics and salinity stress on Mytilus galloprovincialis larval development: A holistic exploration

Researchers studied how environmental microplastics and increased salinity together affect the early development of Mediterranean mussel larvae. The combination caused larval deformities, developmental problems, and changes in gene activity related to shell formation, stress response, and cell damage. These findings are concerning because climate change is altering ocean salinity in coastal areas where microplastic pollution is also heavy, and mussels are a food source that could pass accumulated microplastics to humans.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 13 citations
Article Tier 2

Bioaccumulation of emerging contaminants in mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis): Influence of microplastics

Researchers investigated whether microplastics influence the bioaccumulation of emerging contaminants in Mediterranean mussels. The study found that the presence of microplastics altered how certain chemical pollutants accumulated in mussel tissue, suggesting that microplastics can act as carriers that change the uptake and distribution of other contaminants in marine organisms.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 76 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of Exposure to Cadmium, Microplastics, and Their Mixture on Survival, Growth, Feeding, and Life History of Daphnia magna

Researchers examined how polyethylene microplastics altered cadmium toxicity to Daphnia magna, finding that microplastic co-exposure modified cadmium bioavailability and affected survival, growth, feeding rates, and reproductive outcomes in this ecologically important species.

2023 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 9 citations