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Among aquatic organisms, fish are particularly susceptible to ingesting microplastic particles due to their attractive coloration, buoyancy, and resemblance to food. However, in previous experimental setups, fish were usually exposed to unrealistically high concentrations of microplastics, or the microplastics were deliberately contaminated with persistent organic chemicals; also, in many experiments, the fish were exposed only during the larval stages. The present study investigated the effects of virgin microplastics in gilt-head seabream (Sparus aurata) after 45 days' exposure at 0.1 g kg bodyweight day to 6 common types of microplastics. The overall growth, biochemical analyses of the blood, histopathology, and the potential of the microplastics to accumulate in gastrointestinal organs or translocate to the liver and muscles were monitored and recorded. The results revealed that ingestion of virgin microplastics does not cause imminent harm to the adult gilt-head seabream during 45 days of exposure and an additional 30 days of depuration. The retention of virgin microplastics in the gastrointestinal tract was fairly low, indicating effective elimination of microplastics from the body of the fish and no significant accumulation after successive meals. Therefore, both the short- and the long-term retention potential of microplastics in the gastrointestinal tract of fish is close to zero. However, some large particles remained trapped in the liver, and 5.3% of all the livers analyzed contained at least one microplastic particle. In conclusion, the dietary exposure of S. aurata to 6 common types of virgin microplastics did not induce stress, alter the growth rate, cause pathology, or cause the microplastics to accumulate in the gastrointestinal tract of the fish.

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Twelve specimens of the western Atlantic shrimp, Farfantepenaeus aztecus (Ives, 1891), were caught between

We present a blue mussel exposure system where the fate of microplastics (polystyrene beads) is tracked during exposure and depuration phases. This enabled the establishment of a complete mass balance. Quantification of beads in mussels was done with a novel enzymatic digestion protocol. We found a similar relative distribution of beads for 2 environmentally realistic concentrations (5 and 100 beads L−1) and no substantial egestion of particles within 2 h of depuration. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:99–105. © 2018 SETAC