What is the best endpoint for assessing environmental risk associated with acidification caused by CO2 enrichment using mussels?

Sub-lethal combined effects of illicit drug and decreased pH on marine mussels: A short-time exposure to crack cocaine in CO2 enrichment scenarios

The increasing CO₂-concentrations in the atmosphere promote ocean acidification. Seawater chemistry changes interact with contaminants, such as illicit drugs in the coastal zones. This work evaluates impacts of pH decrease and crack-cocaine exposure on the commercial mussel Perna perna through biomarker responses (lysosomal membrane stability, lipid peroxidation, and DNA strand breaks). The organisms were exposed to different crack-cocaine concentrations (0.5, 5.0, and 50 μg L^-1) combined with different pH values (8.3, 8.0, 7.5, 7.0, 6.5, and 6.0) for 96 h. Crack-cocaine in the different acidification scenarios triggered cyto-genotoxicity, which affected the overall health of mussels exposed to cocaine environmentally relevant concentration. This study produced the first data on biomarker responses associated with CO₂-induced acidification and illicit drugs (crack-cocaine) in marine organisms.

Effects of pollution on marine organisms

This review covers selected 2018 articles on the biological effects of pollutants, including human physical disturbances, on marine and estuarine plants, animals, ecosystems, and habitats. The review, based largely on journal articles, covers field and laboratory measurement activities (bioaccumulation of contaminants, field assessment surveys, toxicity testing, and biomarkers) as well as pollution issues of current interest including endocrine disrupters, emerging contaminants, wastewater discharges, marine debris, dredging, and disposal. Special emphasis is placed on effects of oil spills and marine debris due largely to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil blowout in the Gulf of Mexico and proliferation of data on the assimilation and effects of marine debris. Several topical areas reviewed in the past (e.g., mass mortalities ocean acidification) were dropped this year. The focus of this review is on effects, not on pollutant sources, chemistry, fate, or transport. There is considerable overlap across subject areas (e.g., some bioaccumulation data may be appear in other topical categories such as effects of wastewater discharges, or biomarker studies appearing in oil toxicity literature). Therefore, we strongly urge readers to use keyword searching of the text and references to locate related but distributed information. Although nearly 400 papers are cited, these now represent a fraction of the literature on these subjects. Use this review mainly as a starting point. And please consult the original papers before citing them.

Effects of elevated carbon dioxide on environmental microbes and its mechanisms: A review

Before the industrial revolution, the atmospheric CO₂ concentration was 180-330 ppm; however, fossil-fuel combustion and forest destruction have led to increased atmospheric CO₂ concentration. CO₂ capture and storage is regarded as a promising strategy to prevent global warming and ocean acidification and to alleviate elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentration, but the leakage of CO₂ from storage system can lead to rapid acidification of the surrounding circumstance, which might cause negative influence on environmental microbes. The effects of elevated CO₂ on microbes have been reported extensively, but the review regarding CO₂ affecting different environmental microorganisms has never been done previously. Also, the mechanisms of CO₂ affecting environmental microorganisms are usually contributed to the change of pH values, while the direct influences of CO₂ on microorganisms were often neglected. This paper aimed to provide a systematic review of elevated CO₂ affecting environmental microbes and its mechanisms. Firstly, the influences of elevated CO₂ and potential leakage of CO₂ from storage sites on community structures and diversity of different surrounding environmental microbes were assessed and compared. Secondly, the adverse impacts of CO₂ on microbial growth, cell morphology and membranes, bacterial spores, and microbial metabolism were introduced. Then, based on biochemical principles and knowledge of microbiology and molecular biology, the fundamental mechanisms of the influences of carbon dioxide on environmental microbes were discussed from the aspects of enzyme activity, electron generation and transfer, and key gene and protein expressions. Finally, key questions relevant to the environmental effect of CO₂ that need to be answered in the future were addressed.

Uptake and transcriptional effects of polystyrene microplastics in larval stages of the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

The widespread occurrence of microplastics (MP) in the marine environment is cause of increasing concerns about the safety of the exposed ecosystems. Although the effects associated to the MP uptake have been studied in most marine taxa, the knowledge about their sub-lethal impacts on early life stages of marine species is still limited. Here, we investigated the uptake/retention of 3-μm polystyrene MP by early stages of the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, and the related effects on gut clearance, feeding efficiency, morphological and transcriptional parameters involved in embryo-larval development. Uptake measurements were performed on larvae at 48 h, 3, 6 and 9 days post fertilization (pf) after exposure to a range of 50-10,000 particles mL^-1. At all tested pf periods, treatments resulted in a significant and linear increase of MP uptake with increasing concentrations, though levels measured at 48 h pf were significantly lower compared to 3-9 d pf. Ingested MP were retained up to 192 h in larvae's gut, suggesting a physical impact on digestive functions. No change was noted between the consumption of microalgae Nannochloropsis oculata by larvae when administered alone or in the presence of an identical concentration (2000 items mL^-1) of MP. The exposure to 50-10,000 MP mL^-1 did not alter the morphological development of mussel embryos; however, transcriptional alterations were observed at 50 and 500 MP mL^-1, including the up-regulation of genes involved in shell biogenesis (extrapallial protein; carbonic anhydrase; chitin synthase) and immunomodulation (myticin C; mytilin B), and the inhibition of those coding for lysosomal enzymes (hexosaminidase; β-glucorinidase; catepsin-L). In conclusion, though not highlighting morphological or feeding abnormalities, data from this study revealed the onset of physical and transcriptional impairments induced by MP in mussel larvae, indicating sub-lethal impacts which could increase their vulnerability toward further environmental stressors.

Using a mesocosm approach to evaluate marine benthic assemblage alteration associated with CO2 enrichment in coastal environments

The effects of acidification related to the CO₂ enrichment in the coastal environments on marine macrobenthic abundance, diversity and richness were analyzed in a medium- term (21 days) using mesocosm experiments. Two sampling sites located in the Bay of Cadiz - SW, Spain were selected and tested at pH values ranged from 7.9 to 6.0 (± 0.1). Moreover, variations in the concentrations of metals in the sediment samples were analyzed at the end of each experiment. The results showed low variation in the concentrations of metals in the sediment among the pH treatments. A significant decrease (p < 0.05) in the abundance, diversity and richness of assemblages were measured between the control and the lowest pH level in both sampling sites tested in this study (Rio San Pedro and El Trocadero). The majority of species were found in all samples except in pH 6.0 which only two species were found (Hydrobia ulvae and Scrobicularia plana,) in Rio San Pedro sediment fauna. In general, the results of cluster analysis showed 60% and 40% similarity in all replicated tests in El Trocadero and Rio San Pedro of sediment fauna, respectively. The results of the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that both sediment parameters and pH reduction can interfere in the benthic assemblage indices. Although the assemblages' indices have shown decreases only in the lower pHs, the organisms also could be impacted by chronic effects. Therefore, the extension of this study is important in order to improve the knowledge about the risks associated with CO₂ enrichment in on marine organisms.

Effects of CO2 enrichment on metal bioavailability and bioaccumulation using Mytilus galloprovincialis

The main aim of this study was to evaluate the bioavailability of metals related to CO₂ enrichment on the mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis by metal's bioaccumulation analysis. Two sediment samples were selected and subjected to different pH levels. Concentrations of metals were measured in the overlying seawater and in the whole body of mussels exposed on the 7th, 14th and 21st days. Results showed that the CO₂ enrichment in aquatic ecosystems cause significant (p < 0.05) changes on the concentrations of Cu, Zn, Ni, Mn and As between the control pH and pH 7.0 after 7 days of exposure; and in the concentration of Fe at pH 6.0 using the RSP sediment. The multivariate analysis results showed that the increase in the bioaccumulation of some metals in mussels was linked to the acidification. It was concluded that many factors may interfere in the results when the acidification and bioavailability of metals are inquired.