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Hazard evaluation of plastic mixtures from four Italian subalpine great lakes on the basis of laboratory exposures of zebra mussels

TitleHazard evaluation of plastic mixtures from four Italian subalpine great lakes on the basis of laboratory exposures of zebra mussels
Publication TypeArticolo su Rivista peer-reviewed
Year of Publication2020
AuthorsBinelli, A., Pietrelli L., Di Vito S., Coscia L., Sighicelli Maria, Torre C.D., Parenti C.C., and Magni S.
JournalScience of the Total Environment
Volume699
ISSN00489697
KeywordsAdsorption, analysis, animal, animal experiment, animal tissue, Animals, article, Biohazards, biological marker, Biological modeling, biomarker, Biomarkers, bivalve, Carbonylation, cell viability, Chemical, concentration (composition), controlled study, Cytotoxicity, Detoxifying enzymes, Dreissena, Dreissena polymorpha, Ecological relevance, Elastomers, Environmental hazards, Environmental monitoring, Environmental Pollutants, Environmental risks, enzyme activity, exposure, Fisheries, fresh water, genotoxicity, hazard assessment, Italy, laboratory, lake, Lake Garda, Lake Iseo, Lake Maggiore, Lakes, Lombardy, Manta, Microplastics, Mixtures, Molluscs, nonhuman, plastic, Plastic products, Plastics, pollution exposure, polyethylene, polypropylene, Polypropylenes, priority journal, protein carbonylation, Risk assessment, Toxicity, waste, Waste Products, Water, water pollutant, Water Pollutants, Water pollution
Abstract

Studies related to the evaluation of plastics in freshwaters have been increasing in recent years because approximately 80% of plastic items found in the sea are from inland waters. Despite the ecological relevance of these surveys, no information has been available until now about the hazard related to plastic mixtures in freshwaters. To fill this knowledge gap, we carried out a study aimed to assess the environmental risk associated with the “cocktail” of plastics and environmental pollutants adsorbed on their surface in one of the larger European freshwater basins. Plastic debris was collected by a manta trawl along one transect each in four of the Italian subalpine great lakes (Lake Maggiore, Como, Iseo and Garda) and administered to zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), a useful freshwater biological model present in all these lakes. We estimated a plastic density from 4908 MPs/km2 (Lake Iseo) to 272,261 MPs/km2 (Lake Maggiore), while the most common polymers found were polyethylene and polypropylene, with percentages varying between 73% and 100%. A biomarkers suite consisting of 10 different endpoints was performed after 7 days of exposure to investigate the molecular and cellular effects of plastics and related adsorbed pollutants. The main results highlighted a diffuse but different toxicity due to plastics for each lake, and there were significant changes in the antioxidant and detoxifying enzyme activities in Lake Maggiore, Iseo and Garda, an increase in protein carbonylation in L. Como, and a cellular viability decrease of approximately 30% for zebra mussels from L. Iseo and Garda. Despite this variability in the endpoints' responses, the application of the biomarker response index showed a similar environmental hazard due to plastics for all the sampled lakes. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.

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URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85074260621&doi=10.1016%2fj.scitotenv.2019.134366&partnerID=40&md5=cda0cf3c9ffdae7b4c0463e2388f9f71
DOI10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134366
Citation KeyBinelli2020