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The potential of Lecane rotifers in microplastics removal
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Researchers investigated the ability of Lecane inermis rotifers to remove microplastics from water, demonstrating that these small organisms can ingest and potentially help clear suspended plastic particles from aquatic environments.
Dealing with hard-to-degrade plastics pollution of terrestrial and aquatic environments is one of the most urgent problems of the modern world. The smallest fraction (<5 mm) called micro-plastics (MP) has been found everywhere from ice in Greenland, streams, rivers, soil and even in the human placenta. The goal of our research was to assess the ability of rotifers Lecane inermis to remove micro-plastics suspended in the water column. In the experiments we investigated specific interactions between MP, biofilm and rotifers specialized in feeding on biofilm. We hypothesized that MP adhere to the biofilm and after ingestion by rotifers could be extracted from the water in the form of compact conglomerates excreted with fecal pellets. In these experiments, we demonstrated that: (i) the rotifers preferentially ingest microplastics embedded in biofilm, (ii) the presence of microplastics does not affect growth and fecundity of rotifers, and (iii) that MP aggregation is significantly improved by the presence of biofilm, additionally enhanced in the presence of rotifers. Our findings will help to understand the role of micro-grazers, such as L. inermis feeding on biofilm, in the fate of MP in nature. In the longer term, our results could help to develop biotechnological tools for MP removal from the aquatic environment.
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Tiny freshwater organisms called rotifers eat microplastics and can even pack them into waste pellets that sink, potentially helping remove plastic from water. But when one rotifer species preys on another, it disrupts this natural cleanup process, showing that who eats whom in nature affects where microplastics end up, including possibly in the water and food we rely on.
Small-Sized Microplastics Negatively Affect Rotifers: Changes in the Key Life-History Traits and Rotifer–Phaeocystis Population Dynamics
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Researchers found that small-sized microplastics negatively affected rotifer survival, reproduction, and feeding rates, and also disrupted the population dynamics of rotifers interacting with the harmful alga Phaeocystis in coastal water microcosms.
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This is a source dataset for a study demonstrating that rotifers — tiny aquatic organisms — fragment microplastics into nanoplastics through feeding, contributing to global nanoplastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems.
Tiny water-walking bugs provide scientists with insights on how microplastics are pushed underwater
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Researchers studied water-walking insects to understand the surface tension and hydrodynamic forces that determine whether microplastic particles float or sink, providing mechanistic insight into how plastic pollutants move at the water surface interface. Understanding the physical mechanisms governing microplastic transport in water bodies is essential for modeling contamination spread and predicting exposure risk for aquatic organisms across different depth zones.
Microplastic fragmentation by rotifers in aquatic ecosystems contributes to global nanoplastic pollution
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Scientists discovered that rotifers, tiny zooplankton found in water bodies worldwide, grind microplastics into nanoplastics during feeding, generating over 34,000 submicron particles per animal per day. Both marine and freshwater rotifers could fragment multiple plastic types, including polyethylene and polystyrene. This finding reveals a previously unknown biological pathway that is constantly converting microplastics into even smaller and potentially more dangerous nanoplastics in water systems globally.
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