The work was part of a collaboration with the University of Vigo and Norwegian institutions
The scientific journal Environmental Pollution, belonging to the Elsevier group, published the results of a study carried out by research staff from the Marine Genetic Resources Group (ReXenMar) of the Marine Research Center (CIM) of the University of Vigo, in collaboration with Nofima AS (Norway), the Arctic University of Norway (Norway), and the Aarhus University (Denmark). This study highlights that microplastics have become a global issue as they are omnipresent in the ocean.
The article, entitled «Effects of weathered polyethylene microplastic ingestion on sexual maturation, fecundity and egg quality in maturing broodstock Atlantic cod Gadus morhua» is the result of the joint work of M. Fernández Míguez, V. Puvanendran, Dr. E. Burgerhout, Dr. P. Presa, Dr. H. Tveiten, Dr. K. Vorkampe, Ø. J.Hansen, G. S. Johansson and A.S.Bogevik. In this study the authors claimed that «although the concentration of MPs employed in this study may not be high enough to elicit any observable short-term biological effects, the observed gene expression suggests that long-term consequences should be considered caused by an expected increase of MPs in marine environments.«
Key results:
• Dietary inclusion of 1% weathered PE had no effect on digestion or fish biometrics.
• No dietary effect on gonadal development, fecundity or on egg quality were observed.
• Gene expression through the BPG-axis and plasma steroid analysis was normal.
• Gonadal and liver gene expressions of 20β-hsd and vtg1 differed between the groups.
Article source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.1210532
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