Microplastics may induce food dilution and endocrine disrupting effects in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas), and decrease offspring quality.

Microplastics are a complex environmental contaminant that have been reported to cause a variety of impacts, although the mechanism of these impacts remains unclear. Many studies have investigated either sub-organismal or apical endpoints, while very few have attempted to integrate and link endpoints seen at multiple levels of organization. Here, we exposed fathead minnows to microplastics for their entire lifecycle, from the egg stage through to reproduction, and raised a subset of the offspring in clean water. We show that both preconsumer and environmentally sourced microplastics impact adult growth, lipid storage, and external colouration, suggesting a potential food dilution effect. Environmentally sourced microplastics, but not preconsumer microplastics, had further endocrine disrupting impacts on the parental generation and their offspring in the low concentration treatments such that egg production began later, eggs were less viable, and the offspring had higher rates of malformation. Low dose effects are a typical dose-response for endocrine disrupting contaminants. These results suggest that microplastic exposure, at concentrations relevant to what is being found in the environment, has potential implications for forage fish populations. Our findings also highlight the importance of using an integrative approach to understanding the mechanisms behind how and why microplastics impact organisms.