EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND INTERVENTION VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
MARCH 2-5, 2021
(Virtually the same conference, without elevators, airplane tickets, or hotel room keys)
5/20/2019 | 9:45 AM - 10:00 AM | ECOTOXICOLOGY EFFECTS OF MICROPLASTIC CONTAMINATION IN FRESHWATER WETLANDS | 151 DEF
ECOTOXICOLOGY EFFECTS OF MICROPLASTIC CONTAMINATION IN FRESHWATER WETLANDS
There is increasing evidence for the detrimental effects of microplastic on aquatic consumers. However, far less research has focused on the ecotoxicological community effects of microplastics. I hypothesized that the effects of microplastic pollution on aquatic communities will vary by type of plastic and will be most detrimental among plastics with high volatility (e.g., PVC). To test this hypothesis, I conducted an outdoor mesocosm experiment in 100-L wading pools. I added one of six microplastic types, including the six most commonly used compositions: PVC, polypropylene, PET-G, LDPE, HDPE, and polystyrene. I added microplastics at two concentrations for a total of 12 treatments and a no-plastic control. Mesocosms contained leaf litter, microbes, algae, zooplankton, snails, amphipods, and tadpoles. After two months of community development, I found few effects for most community components. However, I found that tadpole growth was lower at the high contaminant concentration, but only for a subset of the microplastic types. In contrast to expectations, I found that tadpoles gained more biomass with PVC than other plastics, and at the lower microplastic concentration. These results suggest microplastic contamination in freshwaters will have bottom-up effects on aquatic food.
- Ecotoxicology
- Food Webs
- Pollution
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Presenters/Authors
Aaron Stoler
(), Stockton University, aaron.stoler@stockton.edu;
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