Abstract
Bioplastics such as polylactic acid are actually promoted as eco-friendly alternatives to fossil fuel-derived plastics, yet bioplastic toxicity remains poorly known. Here we studied the acute and multigenerational effects of polylactic acid microplastics on the copepod Eurytemora affinis, a bioindicator species of zooplankton. Results on acute toxicity revealed that lethal concentration values are higher for adult males, of 134.6 mg microplastic/L, than for adult females, of 106.9 mg/L. In multigeneration exposure, 400 µg/L polylactic acid microplastics induced higher mortality, production of smaller-sized eggs, elongation of the naupliar phase, and offspring with lower fitness. This led to reduction in female body size, including prosome length, width, and volume. Noteworthy, we also observed a recovery in copepod survival and reproductive parameters in the fifth filial generation.
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Acknowledgements
0We are thankful to Samira Benali and Jean-Marie Raquez of the University of Mons, Belgium, for their efforts in producing and characterizing microplastics. We also thank Anissa Souissi for assistance in Figure 1.
Funding
We acknowledge Program for Early-Stage Researchers in Lille (PEARL), coordinated by Foundation I-SITE ULNE, for funding through the project ‘Assessing the toxicity of plastic fragments on zooplankton ecology via video tracking and behavioral analysis’ (TOPAZ). We also acknowledge PRIORITY COST ACTION CA20101 and the French government through the Program ‘Investissements d’avenir’ (I-SITE ULNE/ANR-16-IDEX-0004 ULNE) managed by the National Research Agency. This paper is part of the contribution to the CPER IDEAL 2021-2027 project funded by the Hauts-de-France region, the French government, Europe (FEDER), and IFREMER.
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WA contributed to the experiments, data collection, analysis, and writing of the original draft. SD and JT contributed to the experimental design and editing. HJ contributed to the experiment, data analysis, and revision. J-.SL was involved in supervising and editing. PZ and SS contributed to supervising, editing, and funding acquisition.
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Ali, W., Das, S., Thery, J. et al. Acute and multigenerational toxicity of polylactic acid microplastics on a copepod bioindicator. Environ Chem Lett (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-024-01747-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-024-01747-x