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Ecotoxicological effects of polystyrene microbeads in a battery of marine organisms belonging to different trophic levels
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Polystyrene microbeads (0.1 μm) were tested across a battery of marine organisms from four trophic levels—bacteria, microalgae, rotifers, and sea urchin larvae—finding no lethality up to 10 mg/L in all species but sub-lethal effects including algal growth inhibition and impaired swimming in rotifers and sea urchin larvae at lower concentrations. The study demonstrates trophic-level variation in sensitivity to nanoscale polystyrene and highlights swimming behavior as a sensitive sub-lethal endpoint.
The aim of this study was to detect ecotoxicological effects of 0.1 μm polystyrene microbeads in marine organisms belonging to different trophic levels. MP build up, lethal and sub-lethal responses were investigated in the bacterium Vibrio anguillarum (culturability), in the green microalga Dunaliella tertiolecta (growth inhibition), in the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis (mortality and swimming speed alteration) and in the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus (immobility and swimming speed alteration) exposed to a wide range of microplastic (MP) concentrations (from 0.001 to 10 mg L). Survival was not affected in all organisms up to 10 mg L, while algal growth inhibition, rotifer and sea urchin larvae swimming behaviour alterations were observed after exposure to MPs. Ingestion was only observed in rotifers and it was directly correlated with sub-lethal effects. These results account for the ecotoxicological risk associated to the polystyrene microbeads, which are able to affect different endpoints in primary producers and consumers (rotifers and sea urchins) since no effects were observed in decomposers. This study points out the importance of using a battery of marine organisms belonging to different trophic levels by studying acute toxicity of MPs at low and high contamination levels, and investigating sub-lethal responses. Further investigations aimed at studying the transfer of these materials through the web are particularly recommended.
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