Pollution affects even oceanic marine protected areas in Southwestern Atlantic.

Reefs are facing a global decline with sewage pollution emerging as a significant and poorly understood threat. Inadequate wastewater management and disorderly urbanization contribute to water pollution globally. Tropical Southwestern Atlantic comprises a set of oceanic Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) including the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago in Brazil, which has experienced significant population growth without expanding the sewage infrastructure.

Are bivalves a source of microplastics for humans? A case study in the Brazilian markets.

Microplastics (MPs) are a ubiquitous contaminant worldwide, damaging the environment and human health. These particles have been identified in important seafood species, which are a possible source of contamination for humans and must be investigated. This study therefore aimed to identify the concentrations of microplastics in four important species of bivalves commercialized in Brazilian markets.

Concentration of microplastics in bivalves of the environment: a systematic review.

The aim of this review was to identify the current knowledge regarding the concentration of microplastics in bivalves in the marine, estuarine, and freshwater environments. For this purpose, researches were conducted from September 2020 to February 2021 in the Scopus, Web of Science, and Google scholar databases, following a meticulous selection of articles. To comprehensively understand the selected articles, an extensive review was carried out in order to identify the methodologies employed, sampling sites, species evaluated, characteristics of the microplastics (concentrations, shapes, sizes, and polymers) and their relationship with the concentration of this particles in the environment.