Size-Dependent Effects of Micro Polystyrene Particles in the Marine Copepod Tigriopus japonicus

• Published in: Environmental science & technology 2013-10, Vol.47 (19), p.11278-11283
• Main Authors: Lee, Kyun-Woo, Shim, Won Joon, Kwon, Oh Youn, Kang, Jung-Hoon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Copepoda; Copepoda - drug effects; Copepoda - physiology; Crustaceans; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on protozoa and invertebrates; Environmental impact; Female; Fertility - drug effects; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Lethal Dose 50; Particle Size; Polystyrene; Polystyrenes - chemistry; Polystyrenes - toxicity; Size; Tigriopus japonicus; Toxicity; Water Pollutants, Chemical - chemistry; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/es401932b

We investigated the effects of three sizes of polystyrene (PS) microbeads (0.05, 0.5, and 6-μm diameter) on the survival, development, and fecundity of the copepod Tigriopus japonicus using acute and chronic toxicity tests. T. japonicus ingested and egested all three sizes of PS beads used and exhibited no selective feeding when phytoplankton were added. The copepods (nauplius and adult females) survived all sizes of PS beads and the various concentrations tested in the acute toxicity test for 96 h. In the two-generation chronic toxicity test, 0.05-μm PS beads at a concentration greater than 12.5 μg/mL caused the mortality of nauplii and copepodites in the F 0 generation and even triggered mortality at a concentration of 1.25 μg/mL in the next generation. In the 0.5-μm PS bead treatment, despite there being no significant effect on the F 0 generation, the highest concentration (25 μg/mL) induced a significant decrease in survival compared with the control population in the F 1 generation. The 6-μm PS beads did not affect the survival of T. japonicus over two generations. The 0.5- and 6-μm PS beads caused a significant decrease in fecundity at all concentrations. These results suggest that microplastics such as micro- or nanosized PS beads may have negative impacts on marine copepods.