Among many human impacts on nature, the accumulation of plastic debris has become one of the most obvious and problematic global issues. Fragments, typically smaller than 5 mm, are called microplastics (MP). MP is of a special concern because it has bioaccumulation potential, contains chemical additives, can adsorb different contaminants and can be used as a substrate for different species. In our study, we focused on the effects of polyethylene (PE) MP and PE MP grown in different water sources on three species of selected organisms: duckweed (Lemna minor), water flea (Daphnia magna) and zebrafish embryos (Danio rerio). Our objective was to investigate effects on the survival rate of water fleas, growth inhibition and root length of duckweed and development of zebrafish embryos. We used four different types of water: landfill leachate water, wastewater treatment plant effluent, city river, spring. We studyed effects of mentioned water types, PE MP, PE MP incubated in different water types and MP leachates. We found strong effect of landfill leachate water on the survival of water fleas and development of zebra fish. We found no significant acute effect of MP particles on the observed organisms. Further, no effect of MP was found on observed organism, regardless the type of water they were incubated in. We found no effect of MP leachates on the development and survival of zebrafish embryos but found significant effect on the survival of water fleas.
|
