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Elevated temperature enhanced lethal and sublethal acute toxicity of polyethylene microplastic fragments in Daphnia magna
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Researchers found that polyethylene microplastic fragments were over 70 times more toxic to water fleas than spherical microplastic beads of similar size, and that elevated water temperatures made the toxicity even worse. At 25 degrees Celsius compared to 20 degrees, the lethal effects of the fragments increased substantially, and the organisms also showed greater reproductive impairment. The study demonstrates that both the shape of microplastics and rising temperatures due to climate change can dramatically amplify their harmful effects on freshwater organisms.
Microplastic (MP) pollution poses a growing concern in freshwater ecosystems, which are further threatened by global warming. Thus, this study investigated the effect of elevated temperature (25 °C) on acute toxicity of polyethylene MP fragments to Daphnia magna over a 48 h period. At the reference temperature (20 °C), MP fragments (41.88 ± 5.71 µm) induced over 70 times higher lethal toxicity than that induced by MP beads (44.50 ± 2.50 µm), with median effective concentrations (EC) of 3.89 and 275.89 mg L, respectively. Elevated temperature significantly increased (p < 0.05) the lethal (EC = 1.88 mg L) and sublethal (lipid peroxidation and total antioxidant capacity) toxicity in D. magna exposed to MP fragments compared to those at the reference temperature. Additionally, the elevated temperature led to a significant increase (p < 0.05) in the bioconcentration of MP fragments in D. magna. Overall, the present study increases understanding for the ecological risk assessment of microplastics under global warming, highlights that elevated temperature can be seriously increased bioconcentration of MP fragments, leading to increased acute toxicity in D. magna.
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