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Polyethylene microplastics enhance metal(loid)s toxicity and accumulation in the marine rotifer Proales similis
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Researchers studied how polyethylene microplastics interact with toxic metals like arsenic, cadmium, copper, and lead in their effects on a tropical marine rotifer. They found that microplastics enhanced the toxicity and accumulation of these metals in the organism, even at realistic environmental concentrations. The study suggests that the combination of microplastics and metal pollutants in marine environments poses a greater risk to aquatic life than either pollutant alone.
Chemical mixtures pose a significant environmental challenge, as interactions among pollutants amplify their detrimental effects on ecosystems, and the knowledge of marine and tropical/subtropical species is scarce. We examine the acute and chronic effects of polyethylene microplastics (PE-MPs) and As, Cd, Cu, and Pb in pairwise combinations on the growth rate (PGR) and accumulation of metal(loid)s on the marine rotifer Proales similis a promising species for ecotoxicological assessment in tropical environments. The 48-h EC of PE-MPs (1-4 μm) was determined, and chronic reproduction tests were performed by combining 25 and 250 μg L of PE-MPs with metal(loid)s at two realistic environmental concentrations: 10 and 100 μg L As, Cd, and Pb, and 1.0 and 10 μg L Cu. The EC of PE-MPs was 4.62 mg L. In most cases, the PGR was significantly lower in the mixture treatments than in the individual exposures to the metal(loid)s or PE-MPs. Predicted effects were greater than the observed effects, indicating synergism in all the tested mixtures. The concentration of As, Cd, Cu, and Pb increased when PE-MPs were present. These results highlight the potential of PE-MPs to act as vectors for metal(loid)s and reveal the synergistic effects of MP-metal(loid) mixtures at environmentally relevant concentrations. The marine, non-selective filter-feeding rotifer P. similis, used as our model organism, demonstrates promise as a tool for risk assessment in tropical environments.
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