Developmental toxicity of plastic leachates on the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus

Transgenerational effects on development following microplastic exposure in Drosophila melanogaster

“…Here we used D. melanogaster to assess the toxicity of two types of plastic: virgin microplastic with no added chemicals (PE) and industrial plastics known to have hazardous chemical additives (PVC). Leachates of the PVC particles used in this study have been shown to disrupt sea urchin development and to contain harmful chemicals that can be released into sea water ( Rendell-Bhatti et al, 2020 ). Some plastic additives have been linked to changes in developmental time, size and fitness in D. melanogaster ( Quesada-Calderón et al, 2017 ; Chen et al, 2019 ).…”

“…The changes to smaller size and shorter life cycles in the F2 generation could be due to many potential factors such as an epigenetic effect in the F1 which affects the F2, or a condition effect in the mothers, such as physiological toxicity caused by physical effects (for example mechanical damage to the gut of the mother) or chemical toxicity, that affects offspring development. Plastic particles are known to cause oxidative stress (reviewed in Pérez-Albaladejo, Solé & Porte, 2020 ), neurotoxicity (reviewed in ( Prüst, Meijer & Westerink, 2020 )) and developmental toxicity in other animals ( Martínez-Gómez et al, 2017 ; Messinetti et al, 2018 ; Rendell-Bhatti et al, 2020 ), as well as reduced gut function ( Wright et al, 2013 ), which may have a negative knock on effect in subsequent generations. In favour of this hypothesis, we saw that the offspring of flies with the higher dose of plastics (4% PVC), which also are known to contain harmful chemicals ( Rendell-Bhatti et al, 2020 ), were the ones showing both the strongest changes in their life cycles, with shorter larval and pupal stages, and the greatest reduction in body size.…”

“…Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) particles were obtained by grinding commercial white PVC prime virgin plasticised pellets kindly provided by Northern Polymers and Plastics Ltd. (UK). PE nurdles are virgin (additive-free) particles, while PVC are plasticised pellets with potentially high levels of hazardous chemical additives such as phthalates ( Navarro, Gómez Tardajos & Reinecke, 2010 ) and polyaromatic hydrocarbons ( Rendell-Bhatti et al, 2020 ). Both pellets were ground using a SPEX Sample Prep Freezer/Mill 6870 cryogrinder using 4 cycles of two minute runs at 15 beats per second with a cooling time of 2 min between cycles.…”

“…Although lagging behind the work on marine organisms ( Bergmann, Gutow & Klages, 2015 ; Martínez-Gómez et al, 2017 ; Rendell-Bhatti et al, 2020 ), there is growing evidence for impacts on terrestrial animals. Several studies found birds to have ingested microplastics, either directly or via trophic transfer ( Holland, Mallory & Shutler, 2016 ; Zhao, Zhu & Li, 2016 ), and earthworm growth rate was reduced and mortality increased when exposed to <150 µm polyethylene (PE) microplastic particles ( Huerta Lwanga et al, 2016 ).…”

Impacts of Plastic-Made Packaging on Marine Key Species: Effects Following Water Acidification and Ecological Implications

“…Oliviero et al (2019) [56] reported a drastic reduction in larval length (33%) in plutei exposed to PVC leachates, probably due to the presence of phthalates. PVC leachates (72 h, 10% dilution) containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls affected sea urchin development, inducing developmental delays, malformation of skeletal structures and nervous and immune systems, as well as abnormal axis formation [57].…”