Ingestion and Egestion of Microplastics by the Cladoceran Daphnia magna: Effects of Regular and Irregular Shaped Plastic and Sorbed Phenanthrene

• Published in: Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 99; no. 6; pp. 655 - 661
• Main Authors: Frydkjær, Camilla Krogh, Iversen, Niels, Roslev, Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.12.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acute effects; Algae; Animals; Aquatic ecosystems; Aquatic Pollution; Bacteria; Beads; carbon; Daphnia - drug effects; Daphnia - physiology; Daphnia magna; Dietary Exposure; Earth and Environmental Science; Eating; Ecosystem; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental conditions; environmental factors; Environmental Health; Fragments; Hydrophobicity; Ingestion; Invertebrates; median effective concentration; Microplastics; Phenanthrene; phenanthrenes; Phenanthrenes - analysis; Phenanthrenes - toxicity; Plankton; Plastics; Plastics - analysis; Plastics - toxicity; Pollutants; Pollution; Polyethylene; Polyethylenes; radionuclides; Soil Science & Conservation; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity; Water Pollution Control; Yeast; yeasts; Polyethylene microplastics; Sorption; Phenanthrene; Acute toxicity; Daphnia magna
• ISSN: 0007-4861; 1432-0800; 1432-0800
• DOI: 10.1007/s00128-017-2186-3

The presence of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems is of increasing global concern. This study investigated ingestion, egestion and acute effects of polyethylene microplastics in Daphnia magna . Fate of regular shaped microplastic beads (10–106 µm) were compared with irregular shaped microplastic fragments (10–75 µm). Daphnia magna ingested regular and irregular microplastic with uptake between 0.7 and 50 plastic particles/animal/day when exposed to microplastic concentrations of 0.0001–10 g/L. Egestion of irregular fragments was slower than that of microplastic beads. The EC50 for irregular microplastic was 0.065 g/L whereas microplastic beads were less inhibitory. The potential of microplastic to act as vector for hydrophobic pollutants was examined using [ 14 C]phenanthrene as tracer. Polyethylene microplastic sorbed less [ 14 C]phenanthrene compared to natural plankton organisms (bacteria, algae, yeast). As microplastics are much less abundant in most aquatic ecosystems compared to plankton organisms this suggests a limited role as vector for hydrophobic pollutants under current environmental conditions.