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Consumption and Impacts of Water-Borne Polypropylene Microplastics on Daphnia Similis
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This study exposed water fleas (Daphnia similis) to polypropylene microplastics and found that the particles accumulated in their digestive tracts and disrupted biochemical processes. Polypropylene is one of the most common plastics in consumer packaging, making it a major contributor to microplastic pollution in aquatic environments. Daphnia are a key link in aquatic food chains, so their disruption could affect fish and other wildlife that consume them.
Abstract Polypropylene microplastics are the primary pollutant in aquatic ecosystems and their toxicity assessment study remains limited. The proposed study focuses on acute exposure of polypropylene microplastic in Daphnia similis, which alters the biochemical parameter due to the accumulation of microplastics in the digestive tract. Moreover, the commercially available polypropylene bags have been converted into microplastic using xylene. FTIR results showed the absence of xylene residue in prepared microplastics particles and it was spherical shaped, size range (FE-SEM) from 11.86µm – 44.62µm. The outcome of the impact reveals that acute exposure to polypropylene microplastic in D. similis leads to immobilization. Further, the biochemical results showed that ingestion of microplastics increases reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. This leads to an increase in the antioxidant enzymes of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and a non-antioxidant enzyme of reduced glutathione (GSH) and also oxidative stress effects in lipid (lipid peroxidation - LPO), protein (Carbonyl protein - CP) gradually increases due to production of free radicals in D. similis . In addition, the neurotransmitter enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) level diminished. These results reflect that accumulation of polypropylene microplastic should exacerbate harmful pollutants on filter-feeding organisms.
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