Plastic debris are dispersed in the marine environment and are consequently available to many organisms of different trophic levels, including sediment-dwelling organisms such as polychaetae. Plastic degradation generates micro (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) and as well as releases bounded plastic additives, increasing the ecotoxicological risk for marine organisms. Therefore, this review summarizes current knowledge on the accumulation and effects of MPs and NPs and plastic additives in polychaetes, derived from laboratory and field evidences. Thirty-six papers (from January 2011 to September 2021) were selected and analysed: about 80% of the selected works were published since 2016, confirming the emerging role of this topic in environmental sciences. The majority of the analysed manuscripts (68%) were carried out in the laboratory under controlled conditions. These studies showed that polychaetes accumulate and are responsive to this contaminant class, displaying behavioural, physiological, biochemical and immunological alterations. The polychaetes Hediste diversicolor and Arenicola marina were the most frequent used species to study MPs, NPs and plastic additive effects. The consideration of field studies revealed that MP accumulation was dependent on the plastic type present in the sediments and on the feeding strategy of the species. Polychaetes are known to play an important role in coastal and estuarine food webs and exposure to MPs, NPs and plastic additives may impair their behavioural, physiological, biochemical and immunological responses. Thus, the estimated global increase of these contaminants in the marine environment could affect the health of these benthic organisms, with consequences at population and ecosystem levels.
Keywords: Behaviour; Effects; Plastic accumulation; Plastic ingestion; Polychaeta; Toxicity.
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