Microplastics in Mollusks: Research Progress, Current Contamination Status, Analysis Approaches, and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Plastic fragments < 5 mm, known as microplastics (MPs), are ubiquitously present in the marine environment. Research on MPs pollution has gradually shifted from field investigations to laboratory studies. With the rapid growth of plastic consumption and the prevalence of aquaculture products, studies on marine MPs have focused on key marine species, such as mollusks. This review summarizes the recent knowledge including 77 important relevant literatures (from 2010 to 2021) on MPs contamination in mollusks with the objectives of (1) elucidating the current status of MPs pollution levels in mollusks, (2) highlighting the main methods and techniques for separation, extraction, and identification of MPs in soft tissues of bivalves and (3) presenting the current research progress and future directions. The review visually presents some of the important results in graphic form, which shows that the most common polymer plastics in bivalves are polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyethylene, and the shapes were mainly fiber and threadiness, mollusks are more likely to feed smaller MPs, most of the MPs in bivalves are less than 500 μm, and the abundance of MPs in seawater and the abundance of MPs in mollusks have a positive relationship, etc. This review will provide a comprehensive reference for studies of microplastics in marine organisms and the ecological pollution, and also has scientific guiding significance in the research method.

Microplastics contamination in molluscs from mangrove forest of Situbondo, Indonesia

“…Out of 40 samples observed, microplastics were observed in all samples of G. erosa (100 %), and only one sample of T. telescopium was observed without microplastic particles. The result of this study supported the results of many studies of microplastic in molluscs that is alarming as an ecological and health risk [33]. Fiber was found the most in all samples of both species, followed by fragment, film and beads (Fig.…”

“…2). The domination of fiber has been the result of many studies since this type of microplastics is ubiquitous in the marine environment [9], [33], [34]. It has been observed that fiber come from domestic activities such as washing product of textile or fabric [5] and also fisheries activities [3].…”

Marine Animal Co-Products—How Improving Their Use as Rich Sources of Health-Promoting Lipids Can Foster Sustainability

“…Contaminant accumulation has been reported in crustacean hepatopancreas [334][335][336] and in the skin, viscera, bones, and scales of fish [337][338][339][340][341]. Mollusks also accumulate toxicants [342][343][344][345], with the digestive glands and gills of hard-shelled animals representing preferential accumulation sites [346][347][348]. The presence of marine biotoxins may represent a very concrete challenge for the use of marine animal co-products.…”

Inventory of Bivalve in the Coastal Area of Desa Sungai Nibung West Kalimantan

“…Gambar 1. Kerang Kepah (Polymesoda erosa) yang ditemukan di wilayah pesisir, Desa Sungai Nibung Menurut Morton (1976) (Melinda et al, 2015;Wang et al, 2021) yang dapat mengakumulasi logam berat dari lingkungan sekitar (Alyani et al, 2017;Dharmadewi, 2020). Oleh karena itu, kerang kepah dapat digunakan sebagai bioindikator kualitas perairan (Cruz et al, 2020;Azis et al, 2021;Yanova et al, 2022).…”