arine litter is composed mainly of plastics and is recognized as a serious threat to marine ecosystems. Ecotoxicolog ical approaches have started elucidating the potential severity of microplastics (MPs) in controlled laboratory studies with pristine materials but no information exists on marine environmental microlitter as a whole. Here, we character ized the litter in the coastal Northern Tyrrhenian sea and in the stomach of two fish species of socio-economic impor tance, and exposed primary cell cultures of mucosal and lymphoid organs to marine microlitter for evaluating possible cytotoxic effects. An average of 0.30 ± 0.02 microlitter items m−3 was found in water samples. μFT-IR analysis re vealed that plastic particles, namely HDPE, polyamide and polypropylene were present in 100% and 83.3% of Merluccius merluccius and Mullus barbatus analyzed, which overall ingested 14.67 ± 4.10 and 5.50 ± 1.97 items/ individual, respectively. Moreover, microlitter was confirmed as a vector of microorganisms. Lastly, the apical end point of viability was found to be significantly reduced in splenic cells exposed in vitro to two microlitter conditions. Considering the role of the spleen in the mounting of adaptive immune responses, our results warrant more in depth investigations for clarifying the actual susceptibility of these two species to anthropogenic microlitter.
First evidence of in vitro cytotoxic effects of marine microlitter on Merluccius merluccius and Mullus barbatus, two Mediterranean commercial fish species
Mancini, E.Secondo
;
2022-01-01
Abstract
arine litter is composed mainly of plastics and is recognized as a serious threat to marine ecosystems. Ecotoxicolog ical approaches have started elucidating the potential severity of microplastics (MPs) in controlled laboratory studies with pristine materials but no information exists on marine environmental microlitter as a whole. Here, we character ized the litter in the coastal Northern Tyrrhenian sea and in the stomach of two fish species of socio-economic impor tance, and exposed primary cell cultures of mucosal and lymphoid organs to marine microlitter for evaluating possible cytotoxic effects. An average of 0.30 ± 0.02 microlitter items m−3 was found in water samples. μFT-IR analysis re vealed that plastic particles, namely HDPE, polyamide and polypropylene were present in 100% and 83.3% of Merluccius merluccius and Mullus barbatus analyzed, which overall ingested 14.67 ± 4.10 and 5.50 ± 1.97 items/ individual, respectively. Moreover, microlitter was confirmed as a vector of microorganisms. Lastly, the apical end point of viability was found to be significantly reduced in splenic cells exposed in vitro to two microlitter conditions. Considering the role of the spleen in the mounting of adaptive immune responses, our results warrant more in depth investigations for clarifying the actual susceptibility of these two species to anthropogenic microlitter.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
