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Effect of salinity on microplastic accumulation and osmoregulatory toxicity in the fiddler crab Minuca rapax
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Researchers studied how water salinity affects the accumulation and toxicity of polyethylene microplastics in fiddler crabs from mangrove environments. They found that microplastics accumulated most heavily in the gills, and that salinity levels influenced both how much plastic the crabs absorbed and how it affected their ability to regulate body fluids. The study reveals that environmental salt conditions play an important role in determining how harmful microplastics are to estuarine organisms.
The effects of salinity on the accumulation and toxicity of microplastics (MPs) in mangrove invertebrates are still scarcely described. We assessed the accumulation and osmoregulatory toxicity of the estuarine fiddler crab Minuca rapax, exposed to 25 mg L of high-density polyethylene MPs at three combinations of osmotic media (hypo- 6, iso- 25, or hyper-35 psu), in 1, 3 and 5 days of exposure. Gills accumulated more MPs than the digestive tract (DT) and muscle. MP accumulation in the gills and DT was enhanced at 6 psu and reduced at 21 and 35 psu after 1 day of exposure. Muscle MP accumulation was not affected by salinity or exposure time. Osmotic regulation was unaffected by MP exposure in any exposure time. Our findings demonstrate that M. rapax accumulates MPs in gills and DT depending on the salinity and that MPs are not osmoregulatory toxicant for this species.
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