Application of an enzyme digestion method reveals microlitter in Mytilus trossulus at a wastewater discharge area

Saana Railo; Julia Talvitie; Outi Setälä; Arto Koistinen; Maiju Lehtiniemi

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.03.022

Application of an enzyme digestion method reveals microlitter in Mytilus trossulus at a wastewater discharge area

Mar Pollut Bull. 2018 May:130:206-214. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.03.022. Epub 2018 Mar 23.

Authors

Saana Railo¹, Julia Talvitie², Outi Setälä³, Arto Koistinen⁴, Maiju Lehtiniemi³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland; Marine Research Centre, Finnish Environment Institute, P. O. Box 140, FI-00251 Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: saana.railo@gmail.com.
² Department of Built Environment, Aalto University, PO Box 15200, FI-00076, Aalto, Finland; Marine Research Centre, Finnish Environment Institute, P. O. Box 140, FI-00251 Helsinki, Finland.
³ Marine Research Centre, Finnish Environment Institute, P. O. Box 140, FI-00251 Helsinki, Finland.
⁴ SIB Labs, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland.

PMID: 29866549
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.03.022

Abstract

The ingestion of microlitter by blue mussels (450) was studied at a wastewater recipient area in the Baltic Sea. The mussel soft tissues were digested using enzymatic detergents and the detected litter particles characterized with FT-IR imaging spectroscopy. Microlitter concentration in seawater and WWTP effluent were also measured. Microlitter was found in 66% of the mussels. Mussels from the WWTP recipient had higher microlitter content compared to those collected at the reference site. Plastics made up 8% of all the analysed microlitter particles. The dominating litter types were fibres (~90% of all microlitter), 42% of which were cotton, 17% linen, 17% viscose and 4% polyester. The risk of airborne contamination during laboratory work was lowered when mussels were digested with their shells on instead of dissecting them first. The approach was found applicable and gentle to both non-synthetic and synthetic materials including fragile fibres.

Keywords: Baltic Sea; FT-IR; Fibres; Marine debris; Microplastics; Tissue digestion.

Publication types

Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

Animals
Baltic States
Cotton Fiber
Environmental Monitoring / methods*
Mytilus
Mytilus edulis*
Plastics / analysis
Seafood / analysis
Seawater
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
Waste Products / analysis*
Wastewater / analysis

Substances

Plastics
Waste Products
Waste Water