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Combined exposure to microplastics and zinc produces sex-specific responses in the water flea Daphnia magna
Summary
This study found that combined exposure to microplastics and zinc produced sex-specific effects in Daphnia magna water fleas, with males and females showing different behavioral, oxidative stress, and gene expression responses. The findings suggest that microplastics can interact with metal pollutants in complex ways, and that the biological impact depends on the sex of the organism.
Microplastics are ubiquitous environmental pollutants and a great threat to the aquatic environment. Due to their small size (ranging from 1 µm to 5 mm), microplastics be easily ingested by a wide range of organisms and can serve as a vector for various contaminants. In this study, additive or possible synergistic effects of microplastics and zinc were demonstrated through sex-specific alterations in behavior, redox status, and modulation of detoxification-related genes in Daphnia magna, with males being more sensitive than females with stronger modulations of antioxidant responses, particularly on glutathione S-transferases expressions. Furthermore, we demonstrated microplastics may act as vectors for metals (Zn) in the aquatic environment in D. magna, with reduced bio-concentration of the total Zn concentration, inducing greater toxicity. Our findings demonstrated synergistic toxicity of the heavy metal Zn and microplastics and could contribute to greater understanding of sex-specific effects of microplastics in aquatic organisms.