title: Microplastics in mussels along the coastal waters of China.
abstract: Microplastic has been confirmed as an emerging pollutant in marine environments. One of the primary environmental risks of microplastics is their bioavailability for aquatic organisms. Bivalves are of particular interest because their extensive filter-feeding activity exposes them directly to microplastics present in the water column. In the present study, we investigated microplastic pollution in mussels (Mytilus edulis) from 22 sites along 12,400 mile coastlines of China in 2015. The number of total microplastics varied from 0.9 to 4.6 items/g and from 1.5 to 7.6 items/individual. M. edulis contained more microplastics (2.7 items/g) in wild groups than that (1.6 items/g) in farmed groups. The abundance of microplastics was 3.3 items/g in mussels from the areas with intensive human activities and significantly higher than that (1.6 items/g) with less human activities. The most common microplastics were fibers, followed by fragments. The proportion of microplastics less than 250 μm in size arranged from 17% to 79% of the total microplastics. Diatom was distinguished from microplastics in mussels for the first time using Scanning Electron Microscope. Our results suggested that the numbers of microplastic kept within a relatively narrow range in mussels and were closely related to the contamination of the environments. We proposed that mussels could be used as a potential bioindicator of microplastic pollution of the coastal environment.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Jiana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Division of Marine Chemistry, National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, Dalian 116023, China.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Dongqi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Prabhu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kolandhasamy
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
authors.forename: Daoji
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China. Electronic address: hhshi@des.ecnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Huahong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D049880:Mytilus edulis / Q000737:chemistry*; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis*; D012758:Shellfish / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D010969:Plastics; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Biomonitoring; Microplastic; Mussels; Seafood