Cited by 550Microplastics and Plastic PollutionEnvironmental Toxicology and EcotoxicologyPharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts

Effects of nanopolystyrene on the feeding behavior of the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis L.)

Open access
Wegner, A., Besseling, E., Foekema, E.M., Kamermans, P., Koelmans, A.A.·2012·Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

Abstract

As the industrial production of nanoplastic and the degradation of microplastic into smaller particles at sea increase, the potential amount of nanoplastics in the marine environment rises. It has been reported that mussels uptake 100-nm polystyrene (PS) beads; to date, however, the effects of this uptake on the organism are unknown. In the present study, the authors investigated the effects of 30-nm PS on the feeding behavior of the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) by exposing the organism to different nano PS and different algae (Pavlova lutheri) concentrations. The state of nano PS aggregation in the exposure medium was assessed using dynamic light scattering. In all treatments that contained nano PS, M. edulis produced pseudofeces. The total weight of the feces and pseudofeces increased with increasing nano PS and increasing algae concentration. Furthermore, M. edulis reduced its filtering activity when nano PS was present but still caused a decrease in the apparent nano PS concentration in the water. The presence of nano PS around the foot of M. edulis after the bioassay confirmed that the organism removed nano PS from the water. Chronic effect studies are therefore needed to investigate the effects of nanoplastics in M. edulis and possible consequences for its predators, including humans.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1002/etc.1984

Cites

48 of 48 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

The text we found for this paper looks like another document, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The text we found for this paper looks like another document, so the self-check wasn’t run.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Wegner, A., Besseling, E., Foekema, E. M., Kamermans, P., & Koelmans, A. A.
Affiliations
  • Wageningen University & Research (NL)
  • Wageningen Marine Research (NL)
Corresponding author
Koelmans, A.A.
Venue
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Published
2012-08-14
Volume
31
Issue
11
Pages
2490-2497
ISSN
  • 0730-7268 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-8618
OpenAlex
W2162350303
Cited by
550
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 21 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 51 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 60 · 2021: 70 · 2020: 61 · 2019: 62 · 2018: 46 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 10
FWCI
10.84
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR) (acceptedVersion)
  • Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (acceptedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
Keywords
nanoplastics, polystyrene, Mytilus edulis, feeding behavior, pseudofeces, filtration, Pavlova lutheri, microalgae, nanoparticle aggregation, bioaccumulation, marine bivalves, chronic toxicity
MeSH terms
Animals, Feeding Behavior, Polystyrenes, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Mytilus edulis, Nanoparticles, Haptophyta

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review