2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

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5/24/2021 | 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM | MICROBIAL COLONIZATION OF MICROPLASTIC FIBERS IS ALTERED BY ADSORPTION OF AN ANTIMICROBIAL COMPOUND | Virtual Platform

MICROBIAL COLONIZATION OF MICROPLASTIC FIBERS IS ALTERED BY ADSORPTION OF AN ANTIMICROBIAL COMPOUND

Microplastics and pharmaceuticals are common contaminants in domestic wastewater that can enter freshwater ecosystems via treated or untreated wastewater. Within freshwaters, microplastics are colonized by microorganisms and can adsorb other contaminants, including pharmaceuticals, creating hot-spots for microbe-pharmaceutical interactions. Triclosan is an antimicrobial compound found in personal care products that is present in the water, sediment, and on plastic litter in urban rivers. Interactions between microplastics, triclosan, and microbes in urban rivers are likely, but have not yet been measured. We incubated acrylic, nylon, and polyester fibers with or without adsorbed triclosan in water collected from the Chicago River for 30 days. DNA-based analysis of microbial assemblages attached to the fibers and in the water indicated that triclosan lowered diversity and shifted microbial assemblage composition both on the microplastic surface and in the water. Differential abundance analysis showed that several bacterial phyla were more abundant in the triclosan treatments, including cyanobacteria and proteobacteria. Interactions between microplastics and pharmaceuticals within freshwater habitats may impact microbes and microbially mediated processes, and merit more research attention.

Microbial ecology
Urban streams
Pharmaceutical

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Presenters/Authors

Karl Gaisser (), Loyola University Chicago, kgaisser@luc.edu;