, 2009 and Fendall and Sewell, 2009): plastic fragments might block feeding appendages or hinder the passage of food through the intestinal tract (Tourinho et al., 2010) or cause pseudo-satiation resulting in reduced food intake (Derraik, 2002 and Thompson, 2006). However, Thompson (2006) and Andrady (2011) note that numerous marine organisms have the ability to remove unwanted materials (e.g. sediment, natural detritus and Selleckchem BMS-936558 particulates) from their body without causing harm, as demonstrated using polychaete worms, which ingested microplastics from their surrounding sediment, then egested them in their faecal casts (Thompson et al., 2004). Nevertheless, once

ingested, there is the potential for microplastics to be absorbed into the body upon passage through the digestive system via translocation. Translocation of polystyrene microspheres was first shown in rodents and humans, and has also been demonstrated for mussels using histological techniques and fluorescence microscopy (Browne et al., 2008). Mytilus edulis were able to ingest 2 and 4 μm microplastics via the inhalant siphon, which the gill filtered out and transported to the labial palps for digestion or rejection. Translocation was proven following the identification of

3 and 9.6 μm fluorescently tagged microspheres in the mussels’ haemolymph (circulatory fluid), 3 days after exposure. Microspheres were present in the circulatory system for up to 48 days after exposure, although there was no apparent sub-lethal impact (measured as oxidative DNA Damage inhibitor Inositol monophosphatase 1 status and phagocytic ability of the haemocytes) ( Browne et al., 2008). However, Köhler (2010) describes a pronounced immune response

and granuloma formation in the digestive glands of blue mussels exposed to microplastics. Although plastics are typically considered as biochemically inert (Roy et al., 2011 and Teuten et al., 2009), plastic additives, often termed “plasticisers”, may be incorporated into plastics during manufacture to change their properties or extend the life of the plastic by providing resistance to heat (e.g. polybrominateddiphenyl ethers), oxidative damage (e.g. nonylphenol) and microbial degradation (e.g. triclosan) (Browne et al., 2007 and Thompson et al., 2009b). These additives are an environmental concern since they both extend the degradation times of plastic and may, in addition, leach out, introducing potentially hazardous chemicals to biota (Barnes et al., 2009, Lithner et al., 2011 and Talsness et al., 2009). Incomplete polymerisation during the formation of plastics allows additives to migrate away from the synthetic matrix of plastic, the degree to which these additives leach from plastics is dependent on the pore size of the polymer matrix, which varies by polymer, the size and properties of the additive and environmental conditions (e.g. weathering; Moore, 2008, Ng and Obbard, 2006 and Teuten et al., 2009).