Gugliandolo, E; Licata, P; Crupi, R; Albergamo, A; Jebara, A; Lo Turco, V; Potorti, AG; Ben Mansour, H; Cuzzocrea, S; Di Bella, G
The new knowledge on the bio-transformations to which the plastic material is subjected, raise concerns about their role as environmental contaminants. Microplastic have been reported to be responsible for the release and distribution of aquatic contaminants such organophosphorus esters, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and phthalate esters. The occurrence, spatiotemporal trends, and ecological risk of phthalic acid esters (PAEs) and non-phthalate plasticizers (NPPs) released from microplastic were investigated in water and fish (Sparus aurata) from five sites along the coast of Mahdia governorate (Tunisia), during April 2018-March 2019. In seawater the most abundant and frequently detected congeners were dibutyl phthalate (DBP, 0.017 mg Lâ1 and 0.055 mg Lâ1), diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP, 0.075 mg Lâ1 and 0.219 mg Lâ1), di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP, 0.071 mg Lâ1 and 4.594 mg Lâ1), and di(2-ethylhexyl) terephthalate (DEHT, 0.634 mg Lâ1 and 2.424 mg Lâ1). (ΣPAEs: 1.416 mg Lâ1 and 5.581 mg Lâ1; ΣNPPs: 9.191 mg Lâ1 and 26.296 mg Lâ1), confirming that such compounds bioconcentrate through the food chain. DBP (0.389 and 0.817 mg Lâ1), DiBP (0.101 and 0.921 mg Lâ1), DEHP (0.726 and 1.771 mg Lâ1) and DEHT (9.191 and 23.251 mg Lâ1) were predominant also in S. aurata affirming that such compounds bioconcentrate through the food chain. Overall, Tunisian samples i) were much more contaminated than counterparts previously investigated for the same pollutants from other world areas, and ii) revealed NPPs at higher levels than PAEs, confirming that such plasticizers are increasingly replacing conventional PAEs. © Copyright © 2020 Gugliandolo, Licata, Crupi, Albergamo, Jebara, Lo Turco, Potortì, Mansour, Cuzzocrea and Di Bella.