Plastic is an exceptionally useful material, because of its good properties. However, its massive use and improper handling with plastic waste has resulted in plastic pollution of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Recently a lot of attention has been given to small plastic particles called microplastics (< 1 mm). In the environment, both primary and secondary microplastics are present. Secondary microplastics occur when plastics are broken down into smaller fragments due to various environmental factors. On the other hand, primary microplastics are widely used in cosmetics and personal care products and can end up in wastewaters and eventually in the aquatic ecosystem. Other pollutants that are present in wastewater can adsorb on the surface of microplastics, including metal nanoparticles, which are also present in cosmetics. Microplastics can act as a vector for pollutants, altering their bioavailability and toxicity and thus affecting aquatic organisms. In this work we studied the effect of microplastics with adsorbed nanoparticles on duckweed Lemna minor. We studied the impact on the specific growth rate, the chlorophyll a and b contents and root length. We also determined the amount of desorbed nanoparticles during the experiment, The results showed that microplastics with adsorbed TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles do not affect the specific growth rate and chlorophyll a content. However, we observed inhibition on root length and chlorophyll b content. After the seven-day incubation period 15,7 % and 53,0 % of TiO2 and ZnO, respectively, was desorbed from microplastics.
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