Effects of microplastics on marine copepods
Microplastic contamination has been considered as a global environmental problem in marine ecosystem. Due to small size (< 5 mm) in overlapping with that of microalgae, microplastics can easily be ingested by a wide range of marine copepods both in the laboratory and in situ. Although many studie...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651321003547 |
| _version_ | 1819092244519452672 |
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| author | Zhuoan Bai Nan Wang Minghua Wang |
| author_facet | Zhuoan Bai Nan Wang Minghua Wang |
| author_sort | Zhuoan Bai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Microplastic contamination has been considered as a global environmental problem in marine ecosystem. Due to small size (< 5 mm) in overlapping with that of microalgae, microplastics can easily be ingested by a wide range of marine copepods both in the laboratory and in situ. Although many studies have reported adverse effects of microplastics on marine copepods, it still lacks a systematic overview about the bioavailability of microplastics and their potential ecological consequences. As copepods dominate zooplankton biomass and provide an essential trophic link in marine ecosystem, this review indicates the bioavailability and toxicity of microplastics in such taxon depend on the shape, size, abundance, and properties of plastics. Also, ours is purposed to tease out the possible molecular mechanisms behind. Microplastic ingestion is prevalent; they impede food intake, block the digestive tract, and cause physiological stress in copepods (e.g., immune responses, metabolism disorders, energy depletion, behavioral alterations, growth retardation, and reproduction disturbance). Notably, in response to microplastic exposure, the copepods show both species- and stage-specificity. Furthermore, microplastics can serve as vectors of organic contaminants (e.g., triclosan, chlorpyrifos, and dibutyl phthalate) and thus increase their toxicity in marine copepods, consequently aggravating the adverse impacts of microplastics in marine ecosystem. Given that most previous studies have partially used pristine microplastics and their short-term exposure might have undervalued their negative effects, more multigenerational mechanistic researches (for example, via an integration of omics-based technology and phenotypic trait analysis) are urgently required for numerous marine copepods exposed to environmental-characteristics plastics as demonstrated by aged microplastics at environmentally realistic concentrations and added with other environmental pollutants; thus it will not only provide mechanistic insights into the biological impacts of microplastics, but also help make the seawater-benchmark setting and ecological assessment for microplastic pollution in marine environment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T22:52:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8151ef1b472e4ebda0a669c557b75acc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0147-6513 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T22:52:32Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety |
| spelling | doaj.art-8151ef1b472e4ebda0a669c557b75acc2022-12-21T18:47:32ZengElsevierEcotoxicology and Environmental Safety0147-65132021-07-01217112243Effects of microplastics on marine copepodsZhuoan Bai0Nan Wang1Minghua Wang2Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Coastal Ecology and Environmental Studies/College of the Environment & Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, ChinaFujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Coastal Ecology and Environmental Studies/College of the Environment & Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, ChinaCorresponding author.; Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Coastal Ecology and Environmental Studies/College of the Environment & Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, ChinaMicroplastic contamination has been considered as a global environmental problem in marine ecosystem. Due to small size (< 5 mm) in overlapping with that of microalgae, microplastics can easily be ingested by a wide range of marine copepods both in the laboratory and in situ. Although many studies have reported adverse effects of microplastics on marine copepods, it still lacks a systematic overview about the bioavailability of microplastics and their potential ecological consequences. As copepods dominate zooplankton biomass and provide an essential trophic link in marine ecosystem, this review indicates the bioavailability and toxicity of microplastics in such taxon depend on the shape, size, abundance, and properties of plastics. Also, ours is purposed to tease out the possible molecular mechanisms behind. Microplastic ingestion is prevalent; they impede food intake, block the digestive tract, and cause physiological stress in copepods (e.g., immune responses, metabolism disorders, energy depletion, behavioral alterations, growth retardation, and reproduction disturbance). Notably, in response to microplastic exposure, the copepods show both species- and stage-specificity. Furthermore, microplastics can serve as vectors of organic contaminants (e.g., triclosan, chlorpyrifos, and dibutyl phthalate) and thus increase their toxicity in marine copepods, consequently aggravating the adverse impacts of microplastics in marine ecosystem. Given that most previous studies have partially used pristine microplastics and their short-term exposure might have undervalued their negative effects, more multigenerational mechanistic researches (for example, via an integration of omics-based technology and phenotypic trait analysis) are urgently required for numerous marine copepods exposed to environmental-characteristics plastics as demonstrated by aged microplastics at environmentally realistic concentrations and added with other environmental pollutants; thus it will not only provide mechanistic insights into the biological impacts of microplastics, but also help make the seawater-benchmark setting and ecological assessment for microplastic pollution in marine environment.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651321003547CopepodsMicroplasticsMultigenerational exposureToxicityVector |
| spellingShingle | Zhuoan Bai Nan Wang Minghua Wang Effects of microplastics on marine copepods Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety Copepods Microplastics Multigenerational exposure Toxicity Vector |
| title | Effects of microplastics on marine copepods |
| title_full | Effects of microplastics on marine copepods |
| title_fullStr | Effects of microplastics on marine copepods |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of microplastics on marine copepods |
| title_short | Effects of microplastics on marine copepods |
| title_sort | effects of microplastics on marine copepods |
| topic | Copepods Microplastics Multigenerational exposure Toxicity Vector |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651321003547 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zhuoanbai effectsofmicroplasticsonmarinecopepods AT nanwang effectsofmicroplasticsonmarinecopepods AT minghuawang effectsofmicroplasticsonmarinecopepods |