Phthalate levels in common sea anemone Actinia equina and Anemonia viridis: A proxy of short-term microplastic interaction?

Phthalates are widely employed plasticizers blended to plastic polymers that, during plastic aging and weathering are prone to leach in the surrounding environment. Thus, phthalates were proposed to indirectly evaluate MPs contamination in marine environments, with still uncertain and scarce data, p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2024-03, Vol.200, p.116125-116125, Article 116125
Main Authors: Vencato, Sara, Montano, Simone, Saliu, Francesco, Coppa, Stefania, Becchi, Alessandro, Liotta, Immacolata, Valente, Tommaso, Cocca, Mariacristina, Matiddi, Marco, Camedda, Andrea, Massaro, Giorgio, Seveso, Davide, Lasagni, Marina, Galli, Paolo, de Lucia, Giuseppe Andrea
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthozoan
Marine litter
Mediterranean Sea
Microplastics
Plasticizers
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Summary:Phthalates are widely employed plasticizers blended to plastic polymers that, during plastic aging and weathering are prone to leach in the surrounding environment. Thus, phthalates were proposed to indirectly evaluate MPs contamination in marine environments, with still uncertain and scarce data, particularly for wildlife. This study investigates simultaneously microplastics (MPs) and phthalates (PAEs) occurrence in wild Actinia equina and Anemonia viridis, two common and edible sea anemone species. Both species had a 100 % frequency of MPs occurrence, with similar average concentrations. PAEs were detected in 70 % of samples, with concentrations up to 150 ng/g in A. equina and 144.3 ng/g for A. viridis. MPs and PAEs present in sea anemone tissues appear to reflect seawater plastic contamination conditions in the study area. Given the rapid biodegradation of PAEs, occurrence and concentrations of both these additives and their metabolites could be useful tracers of short-term plastic debris-biota interactions. •100 % FO of MPs particles presence in both sea anemone species at all spatial scale•Despite different feeding strategies, MPs are similarly ingested by A. actinia and A. viridis.•Phthalate esters detected in 70 % of the edible sea anemone species•An indicator of sea anemone interactions with MPs could be the DBP-MBP ratio.
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116125