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Do Virgin and Chemical-Spiked Microplastics Affect Ephyrae Jellyfish Survival and Behaviour?
Summary
For the first time, this study compared the toxicity of virgin and pollutant-spiked polyethylene microplastics on Aurelia jellyfish ephyrae, examining both survival and behavioral endpoints. Chemically contaminated microplastics were more toxic than virgin particles, confirming that adsorbed pollutants amplify the hazard posed by plastic particles to marine organisms.
In the present work, we verified for the first time the difference in toxicity between virgin and pollutant-spiked microplastics (MPs) on Aurelia sp. ephyrae jellyfish, recently suggested in the ecotoxicology survey. With this aim, ephyrae were exposed to both virgin polyethylene (PE) MPs and PE-MPs spiked with oxybenzone (BP3), an endocrine disrupting chemical. After 48 hours acute and behavioral responses, namely Immobility and Frequency of pulsation, were investigated. Overall, both virgin and BP-3 spiked PE- MPs at low and high concentrations, affected Immobility and the pulsation mode in ephyrae jellyfish. In conclusion, no synergic effects in PE-MPs due to BP-3 was observed, suggesting that the presence of this chemical at environmental concentration does not increase PE- MP toxicity on marine jellyfish.