Over the past decade, microscopic plastic debris, known as microplastics, emerged as a contaminant of concern in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Although regularly detected in aquatic environments, ...the toxicity of those synthetic particles is not well understood. To address this, we investigated whether the exposure to microplastics adversely affects the amphipod Gammarus pulex, a key freshwater invertebrate.
Juvenile (6–9 mm) and adult (12–17 mm) individuals were exposed to irregular, fluorescent polyethylene terephthalate fragments (PET, 10–150 μm; 0.8–4,000 particles mL−1) for 24 h. Results show that body burden after 24 h depends on the dose and age of G. pulex with juveniles ingesting more microplastics than adults. After chronic exposure over 48 d, microplastics did not significantly affect survival, development (molting), metabolism (glycogen, lipid storage) and feeding activity of G. pulex.
This demonstrates that even high concentrations of PET particles did not negatively interfere with the analyzed endpoints. These results contradict previous research on marine crustaceans. Differences may result from variations in the exposure regimes (e.g., duration, particle concentrations), plastic characteristics (e.g., type, size, shape, additives) as well as the species-specific morphological, physiological and behavioral traits. As a detritivorous shredder G. pulex is adapted to feed on non-digestible materials and might, therefore, be less sensitive towards exposure to synthetic particles. Accordingly, we argue that the autecology needs to be taken into account and that research should focus on identifying traits that render species susceptible to microplastic exposure.
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•The freshwater amphipod Gammarus pulex readily ingested irregular PET microplastics (10–150 μm).•After 24 h exposure G. pulex contained predominantly particles <53 μm.•The body burden after 24 h depended on the dose and the age of G. pulex with a higher microplastic abundance in juveniles.•PET microplastic exposure over 48 d did not affect survival, feeding activity, energy reserves and molting of G. pulex.
We investigated the microplastics uptake and chronic toxicity of PET microplastics in Gammarus pulex. Despite high particle uptake, no effects on survival, molting, energy metabolism and feeding activity were observed.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Microscopic plastic items (microplastics) are ubiquitously present in aquatic ecosystems. With decreasing size their availability and potential to accumulate throughout food webs increase. However, ...little is known on the uptake of microplastics by freshwater invertebrates. To address this, we exposed species with different feeding strategies to 1, 10 and 90 µm fluorescent polystyrene spheres (3-3 000 particles mL
). Additionally, we investigated how developmental stages and a co-exposure to natural particles (e.g., food) modulate microplastic ingestion. All species ingested microplastics in a concentration-dependent manner with Daphnia magna consuming up to 6 180 particles h
, followed by Chironomus riparius (226 particles h
), Physella acuta (118 particles h
), Gammarus pulex (10 particles h
) and Lumbriculus variegatus (8 particles h
). D. magna did not ingest 90 µm microplastics whereas the other species preferred larger microplastics over 1 µm in size. In C. riparius and D. magna, size preference depended on the life stage with larger specimens ingesting more and larger microplastics. The presence of natural particles generally reduced the microplastics uptake. Our results demonstrate that freshwater invertebrates have the capacity to ingest microplastics. However, the quantity of uptake depends on their feeding type and morphology as well as on the availability of microplastics.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
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