A unique microplastic clean-up method using mussels as filtration systems is being investigated by scientists at Plymouth Marine Laboratory (PML).

Earlier this year, with financial support from the Waitrose ‘Plan Plastic’ Fund, PML began testing how effective mussels are at removing microplastics from seawater using a custom-designed flume tank. Microplastics are the tiny plastic fibres and particles prevalent in our seas.

Mussels get their food by filtering seawater, sieving out plankton and other nutritious particles and flushing out unwanted particles from their digestive systems.

PML’s experiments showed that a cluster of 300 mussels (5 kg) could filter out over 250,000 microplastics per hour. Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) readily filter microplastics out of the water column. Microplastics are then either rejected by the mussels within ‘pseudofaeces’ or ejected in their normal faecal matter. Additional experiments showed that, even when they contain high levels of buoyant plastic, these mussel faeces will rapidly sink out of the water. This means they can be collected for removal, thereby taking microplastics out of the system entirely.

According to PML, at concentrations encountered in the marine environment, the plastics are unlikely to cause the mussels any harm, and this was shown to be the case in the flume tank experiments.

PML’s computer modelling has indicated that mussels sited near the mouths of rivers and estuaries could filter between 20-25% of small, waterborne microplastics. The factors are complex, with physical parameters to consider including depth, currents, tides, temperatures and varying plastic supply, but the findings mean that a mussel-based clean-up system could potentially be rolled out at scale with significant positive effects.

Professor Pennie Lindeque, Head of Science, Marine Ecology and Biodiversity at PML, said: “The trials so far have been extremely promising and we’re very excited about the positive impact systems like these could potentially have on estuarine areas, particularly in places where microplastics might accumulate such as marinas, harbours or near wastewater treatment works.

“Each year, an estimated eight million tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean – the equivalent to a full truckload dumped into the sea every minute. Of course, prevention is better than cure but we are very encouraged to see that a nature-based solution using the humble mussel could have a key role to play in the war on microplastics, a growing threat to our world’s oceans. The mussels, with their highly evolved filtration system, effectively collect up and leave the recycling out for us to dispose of. It’s amazing to consider how far this could be taken.”

A new series of trials have now begun in the Plymouth Sound using clusters of mussels in large submersible ‘baskets’ with net-like receptacles which collect the faeces – and the microplastics – which can then be hauled in and removed from the seawater.

Rosa Medea is Life & Soul Magazine’s Chief. She writes about lifestyle including sustainable and green living.