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Microplastic Moves Pollutants and Additives to Worms, Reducing Functions Linked to Health and Biodiversity

2013; Elsevier BV; Volume: 23; Issue: 23 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.cub.2013.10.012

1879-0445

Mark A. Oakley Browne, S. J. Niven, Tamara S. Galloway, Steve Rowland, Richard C. Thompson,

Effects and risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals

Inadequate products, waste management, and policy are struggling to prevent plastic waste from infiltrating ecosystems [1Rochman C.M. Browne M.A. Halpern B.S. Hentschel B.T. Hoh E. Karapanagioti H.K. Rios-Mendoza L.M. Takada H. Teh S. Thompson R.C. Policy: classify plastic waste as hazardous.Nature. 2013; 494: 169-171Crossref PubMed Scopus (909) Google Scholar, 2Browne M.A. Crump P. Niven S.J. Teuten E.L. Tonkin A. Galloway T. Thompson R.C. Accumulation of microplastic on shorelines woldwide: sources and sinks.Environ. Sci. Technol. 2011; 45: 9175-9179Crossref PubMed Scopus (2516) Google Scholar]. Disintegration into smaller pieces means that the abundance of micrometer-sized plastic (microplastic) in habitats has increased [3Thompson R.C. Olsen Y. Mitchell R.P. Davis A. Rowland S.J. John A.W.G. McGonigle D. Russell A.E. Lost at sea: where is all the plastic?.Science. 2004; 304: 838Crossref PubMed Scopus (3254) Google Scholar] and outnumbers larger debris [2Browne M.A. Crump P. 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Association of urinary bisphenol A concentration with medical disorders and laboratory abnormalities in adults.JAMA. 2008; 300: 1303-1310Crossref PubMed Scopus (1034) Google Scholar, 11National Oceanographic & Atmosphere Administration (2008) Proceedings of the International Research Workshop on the Occurrence, Effects & Fate of Microplastic Marine Debris, NOAA, Silver Spring.Google Scholar, 12Teuten E.L. Rowland S.J. Galloway T.S. Thompson R.C. Potential for plastics to transport phenanthrene. Env.Sci. Tech. (Paris). 2007; 41: 7759-7764Crossref Scopus (817) Google Scholar, 13Koelmans A.A. Besseling E. Wegner A. Foekema E.M. Plastic as a carrier of POPs to aquatic organisms: a model analysis.Environ. Sci. Technol. 2013; 47: 7812-7820Crossref PubMed Scopus (333) Google Scholar, 14Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (2010) Proceedings of GESAMP International Workshop on plastic particles as a vector in transporting persistent, bio-accumulating and toxic substances in the oceans, UNESCO-IOC, Paris.Google Scholar, 15Rochman C.M. Hoh E. Hentschel B.T. Kaye S. Long-term field measurement of sorption of organic pollutants to five types of plastic pellets: Implications for plastic marine debris.Environ. Sci. Technol. 2013; 494: 169-171Google Scholar]. Despite positive correlations between concentrations of ingested plastic and pollutants in tissues of animals, few, if any, controlled experiments have examined whether ingested plastic transfers pollutants and additives to animals. We exposed lugworms (Arenicola marina) to sand with 5% microplastic that was presorbed with pollutants (nonylphenol and phenanthrene) and additive chemicals (Triclosan and PBDE-47). Microplastic transferred pollutants and additive chemicals into gut tissues of lugworms, causing some biological effects, although clean sand transferred larger concentrations of pollutants into their tissues. Uptake of nonylphenol from PVC or sand reduced the ability of coelomocytes to remove pathogenic bacteria by >60%. Uptake of Triclosan from PVC diminished the ability of worms to engineer sediments and caused mortality, each by >55%, while PVC alone made worms >30% more susceptible to oxidative stress. As global microplastic contamination accelerates, our findings indicate that large concentrations of microplastic and additives can harm ecophysiological functions performed by organisms.