Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Pollutants bioavailability and toxicological risk from microplastics to marine mussels

Researchers tested whether polyethylene and polystyrene microplastics could absorb the pollutant pyrene from water and then transfer it to marine mussels. They found that both types of microplastics readily absorbed pyrene and that mussels exposed to contaminated microplastics showed increased levels of the pollutant in their tissues along with signs of cellular stress. The study provides direct evidence that microplastics can act as carriers of harmful chemicals into the bodies of filter-feeding marine organisms.

2015 Environmental Pollution 1335 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

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

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

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

Effects of microplastics alone or with sorbed oil compounds from the water accommodated fraction of a North Sea crude oil on marine mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis)

Researchers investigated whether polystyrene microplastics could act as a Trojan horse for oil pollutants in marine mussels and found that while mussels accumulated PAHs from crude oil exposure, microplastics alone did not significantly enhance pollutant transfer or cause additional toxic effects.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as vectors of metals contamination in Mediterranean Sea

Researchers collected zooplankton from Mediterranean Sea sites and measured metal concentrations associated with ingested microplastics, finding elevated cadmium, lead, and nickel on MP surfaces compared to surrounding water, demonstrating that MP-bound metals become available to zooplankton and could biomagnify up the food chain.

2021 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Impacts of dietary exposure to different sized polystyrene microplastics alone and with sorbed benzo[a]pyrene on biomarkers and whole organism responses in mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis

Researchers fed mussels polystyrene microplastics of two sizes, with and without sorbed benzo[a]pyrene, over 26 days and measured effects at cellular and whole-organism levels. They found that smaller microplastics caused more pronounced effects on immune cells and digestive tissue, and that the presence of sorbed pollutant amplified some impacts. The study provides evidence that microplastics can facilitate the transfer of hydrophobic pollutants to marine organisms with measurable biological consequences.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 202 citations
Article Tier 2

Co-exposure to Microplastics and Cadmium: Effects on DNA Damage in Mytilus Galloprovincialis

This study investigated how co-exposure to microplastics and cadmium affects DNA damage in the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. Microplastics acted as vectors for cadmium, and combined exposure resulted in greater genotoxic effects than either pollutant alone.

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

Ecotoxicological Effects of Chemical Contaminants Adsorbed to Microplastics in the Clam Scrobicularia plana

Researchers exposed clams to low-density polyethylene microplastics that had been pre-contaminated with persistent organic pollutants and measured ecotoxicological effects including oxidative stress and genotoxicity. The study found that microplastics carrying adsorbed chemical contaminants caused greater biological damage than clean microplastics alone, suggesting that the pollutant-carrier role of microplastics amplifies their environmental impact on bivalves.

2018 Frontiers in Marine Science 206 citations
Article Tier 2

Chemical pollution and ecotoxicological effects of high-density polyethylene microplastics in Mytilus galloprovincialis from two Italian lagoon ecosystems

Researchers assessed microplastic contamination and chemical pollution in mussels from two Italian lagoon ecosystems and tested the effects of high-density polyethylene microplastic exposure. The study found microplastics present in mussels from one lagoon, and laboratory exposure to HDPE microplastics induced significant oxidative stress responses, suggesting these particles can cause ecotoxicological harm in transitional water ecosystems.

2023 Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology 19 citations
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

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

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

Polystyrene microplastics alleviate adverse effects of benzo[a]pyrene on tissues and cells of the marine mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis

Researchers investigated how polystyrene microplastics interact with the toxic pollutant benzo[a]pyrene in marine mussels. The study found that the presence of microplastics actually reduced the accumulation and toxicity of benzo[a]pyrene by approximately 6.7%, likely because the microplastics adsorbed the chemical pollutant and reduced its bioavailability in the water.

2023 Aquatic Toxicology 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Polystyrene nanoplastics and microplastics can act as Trojan horse carriers of benzo(a)pyrene to mussel hemocytes in vitro

Researchers demonstrated that polystyrene nanoplastics and microplastics can act as carriers to transfer the carcinogenic pollutant benzo(a)pyrene into mussel immune cells in laboratory experiments. The plastic particles were internalized by the cells and found both inside and outside lysosomes, with each contaminant contributing different toxic effects. The study raises concerns that microplastics combined with environmental pollutants may pose greater risks to marine organisms than either contaminant alone.

2021 Scientific Reports 92 citations
Article Tier 2

Do microplastics mediate the effects of chemicals on aquatic organisms?

This review examined whether microplastics act as vectors for chemical contaminants in aquatic organisms, finding that while chemicals can sorb to microplastics, the evidence for microplastics significantly enhancing chemical toxicity in natural settings remains limited.

2021 Aquatic Toxicology 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of microplastics contamination on marine biota

Researchers exposed mussels to PVC microplastics under different conditions, finding that short-term exposure caused physiological stress influenced by plastic additives and concentration, while long-term exposure allowed some adaptation. Microplastics were transferred along the food chain to predators but were not absorbed into tissues, suggesting physical passage rather than bioaccumulation.

2016 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Dietary exposure experiments on the migration of chemical pollutants from microplastics to bivalves

Researchers conducted dietary exposure experiments to investigate how chemical pollutants migrate from microplastics to mussels. They found that mussels exposed to polyethylene microplastics accumulated significantly higher concentrations of PCBs and UV stabilizers in their tissues, particularly in reproductive organs. The study demonstrates that microplastics can serve as a pathway for transferring harmful chemical contaminants into seafood organisms.

2024 Marine Pollution Bulletin 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposure of marine mussels Mytilus spp. to polystyrene microplastics: Toxicity and influence on fluoranthene bioaccumulation

Researchers exposed marine mussels to polystyrene microplastics alone and in combination with the pollutant fluoranthene to study their combined effects. They found that while the microplastics themselves had limited direct toxicity, they influenced how fluoranthene accumulated in and was cleared from the mussels' tissues. The study suggests that microplastics can alter the way marine organisms interact with chemical pollutants, potentially changing the risks these contaminants pose.

2016 Environmental Pollution 672 citations
Article Tier 2

Assessing the Impact of Chrysene-Sorbed Polystyrene Microplastics on Different Life Stages of the Mediterranean Mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

Polystyrene microplastics loaded with chrysene were found to impair early larval development and alter physiological markers in Mediterranean mussels, with chrysene-loaded MPs causing greater harm than clean MPs, demonstrating that sorbed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons compound the toxicity of ingested particles.

2021 Applied Sciences 15 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluating Toxic Interactions of Polystyrene Microplastics with Hazardous and Noxious Substances Using the Early Life Stages of the Marine Bivalve Crassostrea gigas

Researchers examined how polystyrene microplastics interact with cadmium and phenanthrene, two common coastal pollutants, using Pacific oyster larvae as a test species. They found that microplastics generally reduced the toxicity of these pollutants but could also act as carriers that alter how the toxins are delivered to the organisms. The study highlights the complex and sometimes unpredictable ways microplastics can change the impact of other pollutants on marine life.

2025 Nanomaterials 2 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