Microplastics (MPs) pollution in the marine environment is one of the most serious environmental concerns of recent years. Despite the serious problem it represents, there is still a lack of knowledge, and it is unclear whether MPs biomagnify in marine food webs in the same way as persistent organic pollutants or whether they may have the potential to biomagnify more in some food webs than in others depending on the type of organism or the geographical scale.  Therefore, the aim of this study is to characterize the concentrations of MPs in different intertidal trophic levels of the Ría de Arousa and Vigo (Galicia, NW Spain) and to check if there is biomagnification of these pollutants. Samples of brown algae Fucus vesiculosus and Fucus ceranoides as primary producers, mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis as filter feeders and the gastropod Nucella lapillus as predators, all of them stored in an environmental specimen bank at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, were used. The results obtained showed the presence of MPs in all the species studied, mostly polyamide 6 fibers of different coloring, but not the existence of biomagnification between trophic levels. Moreover, no spatial pattern was observed depending on whether the different sampling points were located in more or less anthropized areas of the rias. However, further studies are needed to confirm these preliminary results, which will serve to assess the impact and risks of bioaccumulation and biomagnification of MPs in coastal marine food webs and inform plastic waste management.

Primary Presenter: Zulema Varela, University of Santiago de Compostela (zvarelario@gmail.com)

Authors:

Zulema Varela, University of Santiago de Compostela  (zulema.varela@usc.es)

J.Ángel Fernández, University of Santiago de Compostela  (jangel.fernandez@usc.es)

Jesús R. Aboal, University of Santiago de Compostela  (jesusramon.aboal@usc.es)

Carme Pacín, University of Santiago de Compostela  (carmepacin@gmail.com)