ICBAS - Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Porto, Department of Populations Study, Laboratory of Ecotoxicology (ECOTOX), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; CIIMAR - Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research of the University of Porto, Research Team of Ecotoxicology, Stress Ecology and Environmental Health (ECOTOX), Avenida General Norton de Matos, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal.
ICBAS - Institute of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Porto, Department of Populations Study, Laboratory of Ecotoxicology (ECOTOX), Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; CIIMAR - Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research of the University of Porto, Research Team of Ecotoxicology, Stress Ecology and Environmental Health (ECOTOX), Avenida General Norton de Matos, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal.
Sci Total Environ. 2018 Aug 1;631-632:421-428. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.054. Epub 2018 Mar 16.
The environmental contamination by microplastics is a global challenge to ecosystem and human health, and the knowledge on the long-term effects of such particles is limited. Thus, the effects of microplastics and post-exposure recovery were investigated over 4 generations (F, F, F, F) using Daphnia magna as model. Effect criteria were parental mortality, growth, several reproductive parameters, and population growth rate. Microplastics exposure (0.1mg/l of pristine polymer microspheres 1-5μm diameter) caused parental mortality (10-100%), and significantly (p≤0.05) decreased growth, reproduction, and population growth rate leading to the extinction of the microplastics-exposed model population in the F generation. Females descending from those exposed to microplastics in F and exposed to clean medium presented some recovery but up to the F generation they still had significantly (p≤0.05) reduced growth, reproduction, and population growth rate. Overall, these results indicate that D. magna recovery from chronic exposure to microplastics may take several generations, and that the continuous exposure over generations to microplastics may cause population extinction. These findings have implications to aquatic ecosystem functioning and services, and raise concern on the long-term animal and human exposure to microplastics through diverse routes.
微塑料对环境的污染是对生态系统和人类健康的全球性挑战，而此类颗粒的长期影响的知识有限。因此，使用大型溞（Daphnia magna）作为模型，研究了微塑料及其暴露后的恢复作用经过 4 代（F、F、F、F）。效应标准为亲代死亡率、生长、几个繁殖参数和种群增长率。微塑料暴露（直径 1-5μm 的原始聚合物微球 0.1mg/l）导致亲代死亡率（10-100%），并显著（p≤0.05）降低了生长、繁殖和种群增长率，导致暴露于微塑料的模型种群在 F 代中灭绝。从 F 代暴露于微塑料并暴露于清洁介质的雌性表现出一定程度的恢复，但直到 F 代，它们的生长、繁殖和种群增长率仍显著（p≤0.05）降低。总体而言，这些结果表明，大型溞从慢性暴露于微塑料中恢复可能需要几代时间，并且在几代时间内持续暴露于微塑料可能导致种群灭绝。这些发现对水生生态系统功能和服务具有重要意义，并引起了人们对通过多种途径长期接触微塑料对动物和人类的担忧。
