Assessment of the impact of aquaculture facilities on transplanted mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis): Integrating plasticizers and physiological analyses as a biomonitoring strategy

The growing plastic production and its continuous use is a significant problem. In addition, aquaculture practices have experienced a considerable growth and plastic is widely used in these activities, hence plasticizers must be considered due to their potential ecotoxicological impacts on species. Mussels placed inside an Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) system and at two control locations were employed to quantify the ingestion of anthropogenic particles and associated chemical plasticizers, such as bisphenol A (BPA) jointly to bisphenol F (BPF) and bisphenol S (BPS), and phthalates represented by diethyl phthalate (DEP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). In addition, some metabolism and oxidative stress related parameters were measured in mussels’ whole soft tissue. Anthropogenic particle ingestion of mussels increased over time at the three locations and the following order of abundance of pollutants was observed: BPA> BPF> DEHP> DBP> BPS> DEP. Even though no differences according to location were found for pollutants’ occurrence, time trends were evidenced for BPA and DEHP. On the other hand, a location effect was observed for biomarkers with highest values detected in mussels located at the vicinities of the aquaculture facility. In addition, a reduced detoxification activity was observed over time parallel to BPA decrease. [Display omitted] •No correlation was seen between anthropogenic particles and plasticizers presence.•Anthropogenic particles intake correlated with some biomarkers.•BPA was the pollutant most correlated with biomarkers.•Aquaculture facilities’ mussels displayed higher biomarkers’ activity than controls.