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The role of biofilms formed on different mesoplastics as a carrier of a range of diverse contaminants in estuarine water.
Summary
Researchers exposed polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene mesoplastics to simulated estuarine conditions for six months and found that each polymer type develops distinct biofilms that accumulate different contaminants—PP biofilms reaching peak bacterial counts and petroleum hydrocarbon loads, while PE biofilms concentrated the highest pharmaceutical levels—demonstrating that plastic type shapes both microbial colonization and pollutant retention.
This study investigated the role of biofilms formed on different mesoplastics (Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP), and Polystyrene (PS)) in the accumulation of contaminants in a laboratory model system simulating estuarine conditions. Also, the biofilm penetration of the primary pollutants (pharmaceuticals, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), etc.), their persistence in biofilm, and their impact on the total microbial population were examined. Results showed that biofilm formation occurred on all the mesoplastic samples over six-month period. The biofilm on PP exhibited the highest cell count of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria (AHB) (8.7 × 10 cfu/cm) by the end of the exposure period. In terms of pollutant concentrations, the biofilm on PE recorded the highest levels of gemfibrozil (GFZ), measuring 2.2 μg/cm during the experiment. Moreover, the biofilm formed on PP demonstrated the peak values for TPH accumulation, recorded at 57.1 μg/cm. These findings indicate that mesoplastics serve as passive samplers, providing surfaces conducive to microbial colonization and thereby enhancing the accumulation and retention of pollutants from the surrounding aquatic environment within biofilms. Therefore, a comprehensive assessment of plastic pollution in marine ecosystems must incorporate considerations of the biological activity and interactions of plastics with environmental contaminants to fully understand their ecological impact.