The first evidence of microplastic uptake in natural freshwater mussel, Unio stevenianus from Karasu River, Turkey

Atici A. A.

Biomarkers, cilt.27, sa.2, ss.118-126, 2022 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 27 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2022
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/1354750x.2021.2020335
  • Dergi Adı: Biomarkers
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts Core, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Veterinary Science Database
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.118-126
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Microplastic, contamination, biomarker, freshwater mussel, bivalves, pollution, PLASTIC RESIN PELLETS, MARINE-ENVIRONMENT, SYNTHETIC-POLYMERS, EASTERN ANATOLIA, METAL POLLUTION, HEAVY-METALS, NORTH-SEA, LAKE VAN, BIVALVES, QUALITY
  • Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Purpose: Microplastic pollution is a major problem that threatens freshwater mussels as well as marine bivalves, since these filter-feeding organisms are directly exposed to microplastics in the water column. There is no study on the microplastic contamination of Unio stevenianus as a bioindicator organism. The aim of this study is to determine the microplastic contamination in U. stevenianus.

Materials and methods: In total, 32 U. stevenianus were obtained from three different sites from Karasu River, in October 2020. The soft tissue of each mussel was digested and filtered. The filters with microplastics were observed under a stereomicroscope.

Results: A total of 1,253 microplastics, ranging from 0.81 to 6.69 items/gram (mean 2.85 ± 1.27 items/g) and 13.00 to 84.73 items/individual (mean 39.15 ± 16.95 items/individual), were extracted from soft tissues of mussel for all stations. The dominant of the detected microplastics consisted of fragment (48.8%) followed by fiber (47.5%) types, and ˂0.1 mm size (44.8%), irregular shape (48.7%) and black coloured (48.8%) items were the most uptaked microplastics.

Conclusion: This study indicated that U. stevenianus has a lot of pollution where there are a lot of microplastics in the river.