• Microplastics
• Mussel
• Mytilus_galloprovincialis
• Nanoplastics

Mussels, sessile and suspension feeders organisms, such as Mytilus galloprovincialis, a species of ecological and commercial interest, are widely used to assess the health of the coastal marine environment. Mussels present a wide variety of biological responses to environmental stress (biomarkers) which allow their health to be assessed according to both the changes in natural environmental parameters and the presence of polluting substances Marine pollution from micro and nanoplastics is a global environmental problem, also present in the Mediterranean sea.
Although the presence of plastics has been detected in farmed mussels and in natural populations, there are little information on the physiological responses of these organisms to exposure to micro (diameter <5 mm) and nanoplastics (diameter <0.1 mm).

We have evaluated, the possible effects of micro and nanoplastics of different types and sizes on the innate immune response of the mussel, throught:
- in vitro studies on the cells of the immune system, the haemocytes, using different types of micro and nanoplastics of different sizes, both pristine and aged. The response was assessed by determining the stability of lysosomal membranes as general stress biomarkers
- in vivo studies on mussels exposed for 24 h to PS-NH2 amino nanopolystyrene particles of different sizes (100 nm and 50 nm).
We have evaluated the biomarkers throught:
- Immunological biomarkers: stability of lysosomal membranes (LMS, general stress biomarker at cellular level), phagocytic activity and oxidative burst or production of extracellular radicals (ROs, immunocompetence biomarker) in mussel haemocytes.
- Stress biomarker at whole organism level: percentage of survival to emergence at different times (Stress on stress Response)