PlastHealth

Microplastic pollution is a critical global issue, affecting marine organisms as top predators. The EU-funded PlastHealth project aims to understand the transfer and impact of microplastic pollution at the ecosystem level for the first time. The project will assess microplastic transfer across three ecosystem levels and evaluate its effects on health using biochemical and histopathological analyses. The project features a unique experimental setup with three model species and aims to communicate its findings effectively. PlastHealth seeks to raise awareness of microplastic pollution and reveal new insights into its impact on marine ecosystems. Microplastic debris pollution (MP), as a serious environmental problem worldwide, is responsible for most of the hidden marine plastic pollution, being found in organisms from algae to top predators. This innovative proposal (acronym: PlastHealth) will provide a comprehensive understanding of the transfer and effect of MP pollution, for the first time, at the ecosystem level with two main objectives: 1) assess the transfer of MPs within the three ecosystem levels, evaluating the effects of MP exposure on the health (such as the gut content, gut damage, metabolic activity and oxidative stress) using biochemical and histopathological analyses; and recovery rate of the model species using fluorescent stereomicroscopy; and 2) investigate the effects of MPs on the gut microbiome of the model species and the subsequent changes in the community dynamics of the plastisphere (microbial community formed on plastic debris) after MPs digestion by the model species using metagenomics. Going well beyond the state of the art in several fronts, a unique experimental setup that includes three functional groups mesocosm model system – a prey (arthropod Artemia salina), a predator (fish Sparus aurata), and a filter feeder (mussel Mytilus sp.). Following a highly interdisciplinary approach, and using advanced techniques, the research plan will test three MP concentrations (0, 10 and 1000 mL-1) and two MP diameters (2 and 10 μm). The strong interdisciplinary and international character of the proposal will greatly contribute to development of new skills and to the expansion of the applicant’s research network. Grounded on an effective communication strategy and with potential to deliver outputs with outstanding scientific, societal, and policy-making impact (health and safety; and environmental) with far-reaching implications well-beyond its focal species and systems, the project will unveil new aspects of MP pollution on marine ecosystems, raising awareness of MP pollution.