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Microplastic ingestion decreases energy reserves in marine worms

Current Biology 2013 1056 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 50 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Darren Rowe, Darren Rowe, Darren Rowe, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Stephanie Wright, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Stephanie Wright, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Darren Rowe, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Stephanie Wright, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Stephanie Wright, Richard C. Thompson, Stephanie Wright, Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Richard C. Thompson, Tamara S. Galloway Tamara S. Galloway Stephanie Wright, Richard C. Thompson, Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway Richard C. Thompson, Richard C. Thompson, Stephanie Wright, Tamara S. Galloway

Summary

Researchers exposed marine worms to microplastics and found that ingestion reduced the worms' energy reserves, demonstrating that microplastic ingestion imposes a measurable energetic cost that could affect growth, reproduction, and survival.

Polymers

PVC

Body Systems

Immune

The indiscriminate disposal of plastic to the environment is of concern. Microscopic plastic litter (<5 mm diameter; 'microplastic') is increasing in abundance in the marine environment, originating from the fragmentation of plastic items and from industry and personal-care products [1]. On highly impacted beaches, microplastic concentrations (<1mm) can reach 3% by weight, presenting a global conservation issue [2]. Microplastics are a novel substrate for the adherence of hydrophobic contaminants [1], deposition of eggs [3], and colonization by unique bacterial assemblages [4]. Ingestion by indiscriminate deposit-feeders has been reported, yet physical impacts remain understudied [1]. Here, we show that deposit-feeding marine worms maintained in sediments spiked with microscopic unplasticised polyvinylchloride (UPVC) at concentrations overlapping those in the environment had significantly depleted energy reserves by up to 50% (Figure 1). Our results suggest that depleted energy reserves arise from a combination of reduced feeding activity, longer gut residence times of ingested material and inflammation.

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