First record of microplastics in the mussel Limnoperna fortunei

Abstract

The goal of this study was to analyse the presence, abundance, types, size and colours of microplastics (MPs) in the soft tissue of the golden mussel Limnoperna fortunei in the freshwater-mixohaline tidal zone of Río de la Plata estuary. 240 mussels were analysed and the MPs were observed in the 96% of samples, being more abundant in the mussels that settled down close to the main sewage discharges, and in the maximum turbidity front. The average number of MPs/g and MPs/ind was 2.08 and 0.43, respectively. The 90% of MPs, were fibres and the most frequent sizes were >500 ≤1000 µm. The high density of L. fortunei on the coast of the Río de la Plata, its potential predators, and the presence of MPs in the soft tissue, warn the important role this mussel plays in the transfer of this pollutant through the trophic web of the estuary.