Potential Impact of Microplastics and Additives on the Health Status of Loggerhead Turtles (Caretta caretta) Stranded Along the Central Adriatic Coast

Abstract

Loggerhead sea turtle (C. caretta) is the official European bioindicator of marine litter in the Mediterranean Sea. In 2019, 8 sea turtles, out of 28 specimens loggerhead on the Adriatic coast of Molise, were subjected to necropsy. The intestinal contents were collected and the microplastics until 0.45 μm were extracted. Qualitative and quantitative assessments were performed by stereomicroscope observation and spectroscopic analyses (attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ATR-FTIR and Raman microspectroscopy, RMS). Moreover, the analytical quantification of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), para phthalic acid (PTA) and bisphenol A (BPA) in fat and liver tissues was performed by LC-MS/MS. Microparticles ranging from 0.45 μm to 1 mm were found in all turtles, for a total of 623, while plastic litter greater than 1 mm were found only in 4 specimens (ranging from 0.03 to 0.11 g). Nineteen different polymers and 10 pigments, including polyester (100% of animals), high-density polyethylene (50%) and polypropylene (50%) were identified. BPA, PTA and PET were detected in fat and liver tissues of all animals, while PC was found only in 50%. A major prevalence was registered in the abdominal fat tissue, although only PC compounds were significantly higher in abdominal tissue (p < 0.05), except for free PTA with liver tissue being the most contaminated (p < 0.05). Microplastics and additives surely impact the health status of turtles that showed gastrointestinal impairment and an important level of contamination in tissues. Graphical abstract

Raman Microspectroscopy Detection and Characterisation of Microplastics in Human Breastmilk

“…Among all of the exploited techniques, Raman Microspectroscopy (RMS) can be considered the gold standard, since it lets researchers characterise not only the morphological features of microparticles but also their chemical composition in terms of both polymer matrices and pigments. Moreover, RMS presents the advantage of enabling the analysis of MPs as small as ~2 µm directly on filtration membranes, thanks to the high potential of light scattering [18][19][20]. Recently, our research group, for the first time, detected the presence of MPs in human placenta samples; this study, carried out by Raman Microspectroscopy, received extensive attention, since the delicate role played by this organ may be perturbed by the presence of MPs [21].…”

Microplastics in the Mediterranean marine environment: a combined bibliometric and systematic analysis to identify current trends and challenges

“…Similarly, 100% of the short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) found on the Galician Coast and examined by Hernandez-Gonzalez et al [87] were contaminated by MPs (12 ± 8 MPs/org). There has been one report of MPs in Mediterranean Sea turtles, with Di Renzo et al [60] reporting that 66% of Adriatic Sea loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) they investigated were contaminated by an average of 4.75 MPs/org. There has also only been one study of MPs in Mediterranean seabirds, with the highest levels of MPs observed in Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus, 49.3 ± 77.7 MPs/org [49]).…”

First Evidence of Microplastics in the Yolk and Embryos of Common Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) from the Central Adriatic Sea: Evaluation of Embryo and Hatchling Structural Integrity and Development

“…Yolk and embryo pools were digested in a pre-filtered 10% KOH solution (fiber-glass filter, 1.6 µm pore-size, Whatman GF/A) made with deionized water and KOH tablets (Sigma-Aldrich, Milan, Italy). MP extraction was performed following a modified version of the existing protocol described by Di Renzo et al (2021) [26] and summarized below. The solution was added to each sample (ratio 1:10 w/v) and incubated at 40 • C for 24 h. After 24 h, the digestates were filtered in fiber-glass filters (1.6 µm pore-size, Whatman GF/A, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) using a vacuum pump connected to a filter funnel.…”