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Review of mayflies (Insecta Ephemeroptera) as a bioindicator of heavy metals and microplastics in freshwater
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This review examines how mayflies can serve as living indicators of heavy metal and microplastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems. Changes in mayfly populations, behavior, and body chemistry reflect contamination levels in rivers and streams. Since microplastics can carry heavy metals into waterways and up the food chain, monitoring these sensitive insects helps scientists track pollution that could ultimately affect human drinking water and food sources.
Heavy metal and microplastic pollutions are prevalent in freshwater ecosystems, with many freshwater bodies being contaminated by one or both of these pollutants. Recent studies reported extreme detections of Cd, Pb and Zn, high concentrations of Cr, Pb and Cu and microplastics acting as vectors of pollutants, including heavy metals. Mayflies can serve as bioindicators of heavy metal contamination in freshwater ecosystems because changes in their community structure, physiology, and behaviour can reflect and help predict the concentrations of metals in these environments. This review discusses the ecological alterations induced by tissue metal concentration in mayflies and other macroinvertebrates. As sensitive taxa to heavy metal contamination, mayflies can reflect the impacts of this pollution through their ethology and relationship to the substrate, highlighting issues such as eutrophication, alterations in community structure, inhibitory effects and sediment toxicity. Mayflies are also highly affected by microplastic exposure, which leads to ingestion, bioaccumulation, biomagnification, habitat and community alteration, behavioural changes, physiology alteration and toxicity. Mayflies bioindication metrics for assessing the impact of heavy metals and microplastics include the examination of community alteration, functional feeding behaviour, molecular structure, dietary and toxicity impacts, bioaccumulation and biomagnification and biomarkers. Current challenges for the utilization of mayflies as bioindicators include temporal variations in sensitivity, lack of universally recognised protocols and need for standardised protocols for microplastic analysis. Additionally, the applicability of mayflies as bioindicators may vary across different ecosystems, emphasising the need for selecting suitable indicators that align with the unique characteristics of the ecosystem.
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Presence of Microplastics in Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera of North Cascades National Park
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Researchers found microplastics in mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies sampled from streams in North Cascades National Park, Washington State. The results suggest that glacial meltwater may be transporting microplastics into pristine protected wilderness streams, with these insects potentially serving as vectors that move plastic particles up the food web to birds and fish.
Microplastics associated to emerged aquatic insects highlight a potential pathway of environmental transport: a case study of the mayfly Cloeon dipterum
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Scientists found that mayflies, aquatic insects that spend part of their life in water and part flying on land, can carry tiny plastic particles with them when they emerge from ponds and rivers as adults. This matters because it reveals a previously overlooked way microplastics can travel from water into land ecosystems, potentially entering the diets of birds, bats, and other animals that eat these insects, and ultimately working their way further up the food chain, including to humans who eat those animals or fish. More research is needed to understand exactly how much plastic moves this way and what it means for our health, but this study shows the pathway exists.
Effects of anthropogenic activities on microplastics in deposit-feeders (Diptera: Chironomidae) in an urban river of Taiwan
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Researchers quantified microplastic abundance and types in midge larvae (Chironomidae) from an urban river and found that multiple anthropogenic activities including industrial discharge, agriculture, and residential runoff were associated with elevated microplastic levels in these freshwater deposit-feeders.
Assessing microplastic hazards in freshwater ecosystems using chironomid larvae: insights from the Ergene River, European part of Türkiye
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Researchers used chironomid (midge) larvae collected from the Ergene River in Turkey — a waterway heavily impacted by industrial discharge — as bioindicators and found microplastics in their guts, with the abundance and type of plastics reflecting local pollution sources. Because chironomids are a key food source for fish and birds, their microplastic burden represents a pathway for plastics to move up the freshwater food chain.
Distribution of Microplastic in Egypt Wastewater Using Aquatic Insects as Bioindicators
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Researchers used aquatic insect larvae as bioindicators to assess microplastic distribution in Egyptian wastewater systems influenced by industrial and human activity. Insects from high-pollution sites accumulated significantly more microplastics, confirming their utility as cost-effective biological indicators for tracking microplastic contamination in freshwater systems.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.