Comparative effects of trace metal elements released from dissolution of aluminum-based galvanic anodes, aluminum chloride, zinc chloride, and their mixture on the development of the Pacific oyster D-larvae, Crassostrea gigas.

As the most abundant metal in the earth's crust, aluminum (Al) is used in many sectors, and nowadays, there is an increase in anthropogenic releases to aquatic ecosystems. This is particularly true in the context of corrosion protection systems involving galvanic anodes, which are mostly made of Al. Corroded instead of the steel structures they protect, galvanic anodes are described as sacrificial anodes. In contact with seawater, they undergo oxidation and release various metals in the form of ions or oxy-hydroxides into the marine environment, mainly Al and zinc (Zn). Several studies agree that Al increases the incidence of abnormal development in bivalve larvae from 150 µg L-1 which is close to the highest Al concentrations recorded in coastal waters. Therefore, we studied the impact of the cocktail of metals released by aluminum-based galvanic anodes on the development of Crassostrea gigas larvae, which we compared to the effects of aluminum chloride hexahydrate and zinc chloride alone and their mixture. The anode solution was realized thanks to an experimental device simulating the dissolution of a galvanic anode in the marine environment in order to reproduce the cocktail of metal species. We calculated an EC50 of 193.55 µg L-1 and 100.05 µg L-1 for Al and Zn chloride alone, respectively, and we highlighted an EC50 of 190.22 µg L-1 for the galvanic anode based on Al concentration. The mixture of the two metals in their chloride form resulted in the observation of additive and synergistic effects, which underlines the importance of considering the cocktail effect in ecotoxicological studies.

Ecotoxicity of polyethylene nanoplastics from the North Atlantic oceanic gyre on freshwater and marine organisms (microalgae and filter-feeding bivalves).

Each year, 5 to 10 million tons of plastic waste is dumped in the oceans via freshwaters and accumulated in huge oceanic gyres. Under the effect of several abiotic factors, macro plastic wastes (or plastic wastes with macro sizes) are fractionated into microplastics (MP) and finally reach the nanometric size (nanoplastic NP). To reveal potential toxic impacts of these NPs, two microalgae, Scenedemus subspicatus (freshwater green algae), and Thalassiosira weissiflogii (marine diatom) were exposed for up to 48 h at 1, 10, 100, 1000, and 10,000 µg/L to reference polyethylene NPs (PER) or NPs made from polyethylene collected in the North Atlantic gyre (PEN, 7th continent expedition in 2015). Freshwater filter-feeding bivalves, Corbicula fluminea, were exposed to 1000 µg/L of PER and PEN for 48 h to study a possible modification of their filtration or digestion capacity. The results show that PER and PEN do not influence the cell growth of T. weissiflogii, but the PEN exposure causes growth inhibition of S. subspicatus for all exposure concentrations tested. This growth inhibition is enhanced for a higher concentration of PER or PEN (10,000 µg/L) in S. subspicatus. The marine diatom T. weissiflogii appears to be less impacted by plastic pollution than the green algae S. subspicatus for the exposure time. Exposure to NPs does not lead to any alteration of bivalve filtration; however, fecal and pseudo-fecal production increased after PEN exposure, suggesting the implementation of rejection mechanisms for inedible particles.