Adaptation of the bivalve embryotoxicity assay for the high throughput screening of emerging contaminants in Mytilus galloprovincialis

Emerging contaminants (such as Endocrine disrupting chemicals-EDCs, brominated and perfluorinated compounds-BFRs and PFCs, pharmaceuticals) are chemicals currently not included in regulatory monitoring programs, and whose fate and biological impacts are poorly understood. Assessment of ecosystem health with respect to these chemicals is of particular concern also in the marine environment: in this respect, data on the effects on early life stages are important to establish the sensitivity of marine species. In this work, the acute (48 h) bivalve embryo toxicity test was applied for screening the developmental effects of different emerging contaminants in the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. The assay was adapted to 96-microwell plates, and standardized in order to obtain to normal D-shaped larvae with acceptability of test results based on negative control and positive control (copper) comparable with those reported in literature for Mytilus spp. The effects of different model compounds representative of EDCs (Nonylphenol-NP and Bisphenol A-BPA), BFRs (Tetrabromobisphenol A-TBBPA), PFCs (perfluorooctanoid acid-PFOA and perfluorooctane sulphonate-PFOAS) and pharmaceuticals (Ibuprofen-IBU, Diclofenac-DCF, Bezafibrate-BEZA) in a wide concentration range (0.01–0.1–1–10–100–1000 μg/L) were evaluated. The assay proved as a sensitive tool for high throughput screening of emerging contaminants in a marine species, leading to production of significant amounts of data that may be useful for regulatory purposes.