We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Biofilm facilitates metal accumulation onto new plastic pellets in aquatic environments
Summary
This San Francisco Bay study found that biofilm growth on plastic pellets strongly correlated with metal accumulation from the surrounding water, demonstrating that microbial colonization of plastic surfaces enhances their capacity to concentrate trace metals from aquatic environments. Plastics acting as metal concentrators via biofilm formation represent an underappreciated mechanism by which microplastics can increase toxic metal exposure for organisms that ingest them.
Plastic debris in aquatic environments can accumulate ions from the surrounding water, potentially altering the fate of trace metals in these ecosystems. Mechanisms driving this process are poorly understood, and may be attributed to organic matter fouling the plastic???s surface. In this study, two types of pristine plastic pellets as well as glass pellets were suspended in the San Francisco Bay and biomass and metal accumulation were measured at various time intervals up to 28 days. At each time point, increasing biomass was positively correlated with metal accumulation on plastic pellets. Glass accumulated significantly higher levels of Zn compared with plastic materials regardless of biofilm growth. For other metals that showed an affinity for glass, the importance of biomass as a predictor of metal concentration increased and the differences between glass and plastic decreased over time and as biofilm increased. Future studies should account for the effect of biofilms when estimating contaminant sorption and desorption potential on plastic debris relative to other types of debris materials.