Microplastic Effect Thresholds for Freshwater Benthic Macroinvertebrates

Redondo‐Hasselerharm, Paula E.; Falahudin, Dede; Peeters, E.T.H.M.; Koelmans, Albert A.

doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b05367

Cited by 273 publications

(224 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Mortality percentage did not show any difference between treatment and control samples. These results are in accordance with Redondo-Hasselerharm et al [51], where no effects on the mortality rate of five freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates (including a Tubifex sp.) were found after exposure to polystyrene MPs for 28 days.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Microplastics Exposure Causes Negligible Effects on the Oxidative Response Enzymes Glutathione Reductase and Peroxidase in the Oligochaete Tubifex tubifex

Scopetani

Esterhuizen-Londt

Cincinelli

et al. 2020

Toxics

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Microplastics (MPs) are emerging pollutants, which are considered ubiquitous in aquatic ecosystems. The effects of MPs on aquatic biota are still poorly understood, and consequently, there is a need to understand the impacts that MPs may pose to organisms. In the present study, Tubifex tubifex, a freshwater oligochaete commonly used as a bioindicator of the aquatic environment, was exposed to fluorescent polyethylene microspheres (up to 10 µm in size) to test whether the oxidative stress status was affected. The mortality rate of T. tubifex, as well as the activities of the oxidative stress status biomarker enzymes glutathione reductase and peroxidase, were assessed. In terms of oxidative stress, no significant differences between the exposure organisms and the corresponding controls were detected. Even though the data suggest that polyethylene MPs and the selected concentrations did not pose a critical risk to T. tubifex, the previously reported tolerance of T. tubifex to environmental pollution should be taken into account and thus MPs as aquatic pollutants could still represent a threat to more sensitive oligochetes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Microplastics Exposure Causes Negligible Effects on the Oxidative Response Enzymes Glutathione Reductase and Peroxidase in the Oligochaete Tubifex tubifex

Scopetani

Esterhuizen-Londt

Cincinelli

et al. 2020

Toxics

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“…), growth in various benthic macroinvertebrates exposed to PS fragments (Redondo‐Hasselerharm et al. ), and algae ingestion in C. typicus (Cole et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What is known and unknown about the effects of plastic pollution: A meta‐analysis and systematic review

Bucci

Túlio

Rochman

2020

Ecological Applications

453

263

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As a consequence of the global ubiquity of plastic pollution, scientists, decision‐makers, and the public often ask whether macroplastics (>5 mm) and microplastics (<5 mm) have a realized ecological threat. In 2016, we conducted a systematic review of the literature and made a call for further research testing hypotheses about ecological effects. In the subsequent years, the amount of relevant research has risen tremendously. Here, we reassess the literature to determine the current weight of evidence about the effects of plastic pollution across all levels of biological organization. Our data spans marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. We extracted data from 139 lab and field studies testing 577 independent effects across a variety of taxa and with various types, sizes, and shapes of plastic. Overall, 59% of the tested effects were detected. Of these, 58% were due to microplastics and 42% were due to macroplastics. Of the effects that were not detected, 94% were from microplastics and 6% were from macroplastics. We found evidence that whether or not an effect is detected, as well as the severity and direction of the effect, is driven by dose, particle shape, polymer type, and particle size. Based on our analyses, there is no doubt that macroplastics are causing ecological effects, however, the effects of microplastics are much more complex. We also assessed the environmental relevancy of experimental studies by comparing the doses used in each exposure to the concentrations and sizes of microplastics found in the environment. We determined that only 17% of the concentrations used in experimental studies have been found in nature, and that 80% of particle sizes used in experiments fall below the size range of the majority of environmental sampling. Based on our systematic review and meta‐analysis, we make a call for future work that recognizes the complexity of microplastics and designs tests to better understand how different types, sizes, shapes, doses, and exposure durations affect wildlife. We also call for more ecologically and environmentally relevant studies, particularly in freshwater and terrestrial environments.

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“…Microplastic pollution has been detected from the poles to the deep ocean, and more recently in bottled drinking water (Mason et al, 2018;Wagner and Lambert, 2018). Whilst there is little doubt over the enormity of plastic and MP pollution in scale, the vast majority of research has concentrated on marine environments whilst neglecting other ecosystems (Redondo-Hasselerharm et al, 2018;Wagner and Lambert, 2018). To date there is a paucity of information on the impacts of MPs in freshwater ecosystems, despite the broad range of pathways through which MPs can proliferate (Mason et al, 2016), and the extensive range of species which actively ingest MPs in these systems (Canniff and Hoang, 2018;Imhof et al, 2016Imhof et al, , 2013Nel et al, 2018;Qu et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the densities of MPs in freshwater ecosystems, it is likely that they will be ingested by aquatic organisms, and, in turn, probable that they will be transferred up through the food chain (Cole et al, 2013;Sussarellu et al, 2016;Scherer et al, 2017;Redondo-Hasselerharm et al 2018). Laboratory experiments have demonstrated the uptake of MPs, and it is well established that they are ingested by many invertebrates in both freshwater and marine environments (Imhof et al, 2013;Al-Jaibachi and Callaghan, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining effects of ontogenic microplastic transference on Culex mosquito mortality and adult weight

Al-Jaibachi

Cuthbert

Callaghan

2019

Science of The Total Environment

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Microplastics (MPs) continue to proliferate and pollute aquatic and terrestrial environments globally. The impacts of MP pollution on ecosystems and their functioning remain poorly quantified, with most research hitherto focusing on marine ecosystems. There is a paucity of information on the impacts of MPs in freshwater ecosystems, despite the broad range of pathways through which MPs can proliferate and the extensive range of species which actively ingest MPs in these systems. Of particular interest are organisms that bridge aquatic and terrestrial habitats. The present study thus examines the uptake, ontogenic transference and effect of different concentrations (0, 50, 100 and 200 MPs mL-1) and sizes (2 and 15 µm) of polystyrene MPs between aquatic and terrestrial life stages of Culex pipiens complex mosquitoes. Both 2 and 15 µm MPs transferred from the aquatic larval to terrestrial adult stage of Culex mosquitoes, and uptake correlated tightly with initial exposure concentration. However, neither concentration nor size of MPs significantly influenced mortality rates between the aquatic larval and terrestrial adult stage. There was also no impact of MPs on the weight of emerging mosquito adults. We thus demonstrate that MPs can be transferred ontogenically through organisms with complex life histories, presenting a potential pathway for dispersal of MPs into terrestrial environments. We also show that MPs exposure does not affect mortality rates between life stages of freshwater Culex populations. This suggests that MPs do not impact nutritional uptakes, with unhampered development to adulthood facilitating subsequent dispersal of MPs aerially and between freshwater and terrestrial habitats.

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Microplastic Effect Thresholds for Freshwater Benthic Macroinvertebrates

Cited by 273 publications

References 52 publications

Microplastics Exposure Causes Negligible Effects on the Oxidative Response Enzymes Glutathione Reductase and Peroxidase in the Oligochaete Tubifex tubifex

Microplastics Exposure Causes Negligible Effects on the Oxidative Response Enzymes Glutathione Reductase and Peroxidase in the Oligochaete Tubifex tubifex

What is known and unknown about the effects of plastic pollution: A meta‐analysis and systematic review

Examining effects of ontogenic microplastic transference on Culex mosquito mortality and adult weight

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