The effect of polystyrene plastics on the toxicity of triphenyltin to the marine diatom Skeletonema costatum—influence of plastic particle size

The effect of polystyrene (PS) particles on the toxicity of triphenyltin (TPT) to the marine diatom Skeletonema costatum was investigated. The 0.1-μm PS particles attached to the cell walls of S. costatum but did not cause adverse effects on the growth of the diatom. The adsorption of TPT to PS particles was negligible in seawater systems, but the presence of 0.1-μm PS significantly reduced the bioavailable concentrations of TPT in f/2-Si medium, indicating a potential three-way interaction between TPT, PS particles, and components of f/2-Si medium. The adsorption of TPT to PS of smaller size (i.e., 0.1 μm) was stronger than that of PS of larger size (i.e., 5 μm), which was probably attributed to larger surface areas of smaller PS particles. The presence of PS could reduce the toxicity of TPT. IC values of TPT increased from 0.56 to 0.85 and 0.71 μg/L at the presence of 20 mg/L 0.1-μm PS and 5-μm PS, respectively. The overall results of this study profiled the combined toxic effects of PS and TPT on marine phytoplankton species and highlighted the difference in adsorption of organic pollutants by microplastics in different ambient mediums.