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Unpalatable Plastic: Efficient Taste Discrimination of Microplastics in Planktonic Copepods

Environmental Science & Technology 2022 73 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 45 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Rodrigo Almeda Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Jiayi Xu, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Rodrigo Almeda Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Rodrigo Almeda Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Daoji Li, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Daoji Li, Sinja Rist, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Daoji Li, Rodrigo Almeda Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Rodrigo Almeda Sinja Rist, Jiayi Xu, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Nanna B. Hartmann, Daoji Li, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Jiayi Xu, Jiayi Xu, Jiayi Xu, Jiayi Xu, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Daoji Li, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Nanna B. Hartmann, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Daoji Li, Nanna B. Hartmann, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Nanna B. Hartmann, Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Rodrigo Almeda Nanna B. Hartmann, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Rodrigo Almeda Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Rodrigo Almeda Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Rodrigo Almeda Sinja Rist, Rodrigo Almeda Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Daoji Li, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Jiayi Xu, Daoji Li, Jiayi Xu, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Daoji Li, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Sinja Rist, Jiayi Xu, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Rodrigo Almeda Rodrigo Almeda Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Jiayi Xu, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Rodrigo Almeda Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Sinja Rist, Daoji Li, Daoji Li, Rodrigo Almeda Daoji Li, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Rodrigo Almeda Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Rocío Rodríguez-Torres, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Philipp Brun, Daoji Li, Philipp Brun, Daoji Li, Nanna B. Hartmann, Nanna B. Hartmann, Daoji Li, Daoji Li, Daoji Li, Daoji Li, Daoji Li, Nanna B. Hartmann, Rodrigo Almeda Daoji Li, Daoji Li, Nanna B. Hartmann, Daoji Li, Daoji Li, Daoji Li, Daoji Li, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Daoji Li, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Jiayi Xu, Sinja Rist, Nanna B. Hartmann, Sinja Rist, Nanna B. Hartmann, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Daoji Li, Rodrigo Almeda Nanna B. Hartmann, Daoji Li, Rodrigo Almeda Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Rodrigo Almeda Daoji Li, Rodrigo Almeda Nanna B. Hartmann, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Rodrigo Almeda Daoji Li, Rodrigo Almeda Daoji Li, Daoji Li, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Daoji Li, Rodrigo Almeda Daoji Li, Daoji Li, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Torkel Gissel Nielsen, Jiayi Xu, Daoji Li, Daoji Li, Sinja Rist, Rodrigo Almeda

Summary

Researchers used video observations and bottle incubations to study copepod behavioral responses to microplastics, finding that copepods rejected about 80% of microplastics after touching them with their mouthparts regardless of polymer type, shape, biofilm presence, or sorbed pollutant. The high rejection rate suggests that post-capture taste discrimination substantially reduces microplastic ingestion risk for feeding-current copepods under realistic ocean conditions.

Models

Invertebrate other

Study Type Environmental

Planktonic copepods are the most abundant animals in the ocean and key players in global biochemical processes. Recent modeling suggests that zooplankton ingestion of microplastics (MPs) can disrupt the biological carbon pump and accelerate a global loss of oceanic oxygen. Here we investigate the behavioral responses and ingestion rates of a model feeding-current generating copepod when exposed to microplastics of different characteristics by small-scale video observations and bottle incubations. We found that copepods rejected 80% of the microplastics after touching them with their mouth parts, in essence exhibiting a kind of taste discrimination. High rejection rates of microplastics were independent of polymer type, shape, presence of biofilms, or sorbed pollutant (pyrene), indicating that microplastics are unpalatable for feeding-current feeding copepods and that post-capture taste discrimination is a main sensorial mechanism in the rejection of microplastics. In an ecological context, taking into account the behaviors of planktonic copepods and the concentrations of microplastics found in marine waters, our results suggest a low risk of microplastic ingestion by zooplankton and a low impact of microplastics on the vertical exportation of fecal pellets.

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