Do weathered microplastics impact the planktonic community? A mesocosm approach in the Baltic Sea.

Autor: Ebbesen LG; Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark; National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU AQUA) Technical University of Denmark, Denmark., Strange MV; Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark; National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU AQUA) Technical University of Denmark, Denmark., Gunaalan K; National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU AQUA) Technical University of Denmark, Denmark., Paulsen ML; Department of Biology, Aquatic Biology, Aarhus University, Denmark., Herrera A; EOMAR, ECOAQUA, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain., Nielsen TG; National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU AQUA) Technical University of Denmark, Denmark., Shashoua Y; Environmental Archaeology and Materials Science, National Museum of Denmark, Denmark., Lindegren M; National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU AQUA) Technical University of Denmark, Denmark., Almeda R; National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU AQUA) Technical University of Denmark, Denmark; EOMAR, ECOAQUA, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. Electronic address: rodrigo.almeda@ulpgc.es.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Water research [Water Res] 2024 May 15; Vol. 255, pp. 121500. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Mar 21.
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121500
Abstrakt: Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous pollutants of increasing concern in aquatic systems. However, little is still known about the impacts of weathered MPs on plankton at the community level after long-term exposure. In this study, we investigated the effects of weathered MPs on the structure and dynamics of a Baltic Sea planktonic community during ca. 5 weeks of exposure using a mesocosm approach (2 m 3 ) mimicking natural conditions. MPs were obtained from micronized commercial materials of polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polystyrene, and polyamide (nylon) previously weathered by thermal ageing and sunlight exposure. The planktonic community was exposed to 2 μg L -1 and 2 mg L -1 of MPs corresponding to measured particle concentrations (10-120 μm) of 680 MPs L -1 and 680 MPs mL -1 , respectively. The abundance and composition of all size classes and groups of plankton and chlorophyll concentrations were periodically analyzed throughout the experiment. The population dynamics of the studied groups showed some variations between treatments, with negative and positive effects of MPs exhibited depending on the group and exposure time. The abundance of heterotrophic bacteria, pico- and nanophytoplankton, cryptophytes, and ciliates was lower in the treatment with the higher MP concentration than in the control at the last weeks of the exposure. The chlorophyll concentration and the abundances of heterotrophic nanoflagellates, Astromoeba, dinoflagellate, diatom, and metazooplankton were not negatively affected by the exposure to MPs and, in some cases, some groups showed even higher abundances in the MP treatments. Despite these tendencies, statistical analyses indicate that in most cases there were no statistically significant differences between treatments over the exposure period, even at very high exposure concentrations. Our results show that weathered MPs of the studied conventional plastic materials have minimal or negligible impact on planktonic communities after long-term exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: RODRIGO ALMEDA reports financial support was provided by European Commission. RODRIGO ALMEDA reports financial support was provided by JPI Oceans. TORKEL NIELSEN reports financial support was provided by Velux Foundation. RODRIGO ALMEDA reports financial support was provided by The Canarian Science and Technology Park Foundation of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. RODRIGO ALMEDA reports financial support was provided by Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. RODRIGO ALMEDA reports financial support was provided by Spanish National Agency of Research. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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