Ecological impact of surfactant Tween-80 on plankton: High-scale analyses reveal deeper hazards

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 912; p. 169176
• Main Authors: Yuan, Duanyang, Long, Yaoyue, Liu, Dan, Zhou, Fangjie, Liu, Change, Chen, Liqiang, Pan, Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 20.02.2024
• Subjects: Animals; Causal relationships; Chlorella vulgaris; Daphnia; Individual-scale traits; Life-history traits; Plankton; Plankton ecosystem; Polysorbates - toxicity; Scenedesmus; Surface-Active Agents - toxicity; Surfactant toxicity; System stability; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity; Life-history traits; Surfactant toxicity; Plankton ecosystem; Causal relationships; System stability; Individual-scale traits
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169176

The ecological risks of surfactants have been largely neglected because of their low toxicity. Multiscale studies have indicated that even if a pollutant causes no acute toxicity in a test species, it may alter interspecific interactions and community characteristics through sublethal impacts on test organisms. Therefore, we investigated the lethal and sublethal responses of the plankton species Scenedesmus quadricauda, Chlorella vulgaris, and Daphnia magna, to surfactant Tween-80. Then, high-scale responses in grazer life-history traits and stability of the D. magna-larval damselfly system were further explored. The results showed that discernible adverse effects on the growth or survival of the three plankton species were evident only at exceptionally high concentrations (≥100 mg L−1). However, 10 mg L−1 of Tween-80 notably affected the MDA concentration in grazer species, simultaneously displaying a tendency to diminish grazer's heartbeat and swimming frequency. Furthermore, Tween-80 reduced the grazer reproductive capacity and increased its predation risk by larval damselflies, which ultimately jeopardized the stability of the D. magna-larval damselfly system at much lower concentrations (10–100 fold lower) than the individual-scale responses. This study provides evidence that high-scale traits are far more sensitive to Tween-80, compared with individual-scale traits for plankton organisms, suggesting that the ecological risks of Tween-80 demand careful reassessment. The concentration of Tween-80 needed to induce changes in community characteristics is markedly lower than that needed to produce individual-scale consequences. Thus, high-scale analyses have broad implications for understanding the hazardous effects of surfactants compared with an individual-scale analysis. [Display omitted] •Multiple scales consequences of Tween-80 on plankton organisms were analyzed.•Tween-80 had low acute toxicity to plankton organism.•Tween-80 had weaker impacts on grazer's swimming behavior and grazing rate.•Tween-80 affected grazer life-history traits and stability of plankton ecosystem.•Community-level traits were far more sensitive than individual-level traits.