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Size- and shape-dependent ingestion and acute toxicity of fragmented and spherical microplastics in the absence and presence of prey on two marine zooplankton
Summary
Researchers tested how the size and shape of microplastics affect their toxicity to tiny marine animals called zooplankton. Smaller particles were swallowed more often, but irregularly shaped fragments were more toxic than smooth spheres of similar size. When natural food was present, the animals ate fewer microplastics, suggesting that real-world toxicity depends on both particle characteristics and environmental conditions.
As microplastics (MPs) are particulate pollutants, their size and shape, and the presence of prey in the media can affect their toxicity. However, the size- and shape-dependent toxicities of MPs and their prey-dependent ingestion patterns in marine zooplankton are not well understood. Thus, we investigated the ingestion and egestion patterns, and toxicity of different shapes and sizes of MPs on two marine zooplankton, Brachionus koreanus and Diaphanosoma celebensis, under different prey conditions. The ingestion assay showed that smaller MPs were ingested more frequently, regardless of their shape. However, fragmented MPs showed higher toxicity than spherical MPs of comparable size. Prey in the media reduced the uptake and toxicity of MPs in both species depending on the taxa's feeding strategy. Our findings demonstrate that the size and shape of MPs are important factors in determining toxicity and that the presence of prey should also be considered when assessing MP toxicity.