Bioavailability and effects of microplastics on marine zooplankton: A review
Open accessAbstract
Microplastics are abundant and widespread in the marine environment. They are a contaminant of global environmental and economic concern. Due to their small size a wide range of marine species, including zooplankton can ingest them. Research has shown that microplastics are readily ingested by several zooplankton taxa, with associated negative impacts on biological processes. Zooplankton is a crucial food source for many secondary consumers, consequently this represents a route whereby microplastic could enter the food web and transfer up the trophic levels. In this review we aim to: 1) evaluate the current knowledge base regarding microplastic ingestion by zooplankton in both the laboratory and the field; and 2) summarise the factors which contribute to the bioavailability of microplastics to zooplankton. Current literature shows that microplastic ingestion has been recorded in 39 zooplankton species from 28 taxonomic orders including holo- and meroplanktonic species. The majority of studies occurred under laboratory conditions and negative effects were reported in ten studies (45%) demonstrating effects on feeding behaviour, growth, development, reproduction and lifespan. In contrast, three studies (14%) reported no negative effects from microplastic ingestion. Several physical and biological factors can influence the bioavailability of microplastics to zooplankton, such as size, shape, age and abundance. We identified that microplastics used in experiments are often different to those quantified in the marine environment, particularly in terms of concentration, shape, type and age. We therefore suggest that future research should include microplastics that are more representative of those found in the marine environment at relevant concentrations. Additionally, investigating the effects of microplastic ingestion on a broader range of zooplankton species and life stages, will help to answer key knowledge gaps regarding the effect of microplastic on recruitment, species populations and ultimately broader economic consequences such as impacts on shell- and finfish stocks.
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Microplastics are bioavailable to a wide range of organisms because of their small size (typically <5 mm).
“In addition to their widespread distribution, because of their small size (typically defined as <5 mm), microplastics are believed to be bioavailable to a wide range of organisms (Botterell et al., 2019;Galloway et al., 2017).”
From No Effect of Realistic Concentrations of Polyester Microplastic Fibers on Freshwater Zooplankton Communities (2024) · cites this paper as Botterell et al., 2019
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Amelia, T. S. M., Khalik, W. M. A. W. M., Ong, M. C., Shao, Y. T., Pan, H.-J., & Bhubalan, K. (2021) · Progress in Earth and Planetary Science · doi:10.1186/s40645-020-00405-4 · Cited by 641 · see citing works
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Self-citationA Review: Research Progress on Microplastic Pollutants in Aquatic Environments
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Micro-by-micro interactions: How microorganisms influence the fate of marine microplastics
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Bioavailability of microplastics to marine zooplankton: effect of shape and infochemicals
Botterell, Z. L. R., Beaumont, N., Cole, M., Hopkins, F. E., Steinke, M., Thompson, R. C., & Lindeque, P. K. (2020) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c02715 · Cited by 193 · see citing works
Self-citationDaniel, D. B., Ashraf, P. M., & Thomas, S. N. (2020) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115365 · Cited by 189 · see citing works
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The Analytical Possibilities of FT-IR Spectroscopy Powered by Vibrating Molecules
Koczoń, P., Hołaj-Krzak, J. T., Palani, B. K., Bolewski, T., Dąbrowski, J., Bartyzel, B. J., & Gruczyńska-Sękowska, E. (2023) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms24021013 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Sultana, S., Anisuzzaman, M., Hossain, M. K., Rana, M. S., Paray, B. A., Arai, T., Yu, J., & Hossain, M. B. (2024) · Marine Pollution Bulletin · doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116544 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Chenet, T., Mancia, A., Bono, G., Falsone, F., Scannella, D., Vaccaro, C., Baldi, A., Catani, M., Cavazzini, A., & Pasti, L. (2021) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117449 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
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“…microplastics (plastic particles 1000 nm to 5 mm in size), become bioavailable to marine organisms, and have been widely documented in fish [6, 7] and invertebrates [8], including zooplankton [9], and, to a lesser extent, seabirds [10–13], marine mammals [14–17], and sea turtles [14, 18–20].”
BackgroundCarrillo-Barragán, P., Fitzsimmons, C., Lloyd-Hartley, H., Tinlin-Mackenzie, A., Scott, C., & Sugden, H. (2024) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.123060 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Mixotrophic flagellate ingestion boosts microplastic accumulation in ascidians
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Klasios, N., Kim, J. O., & Tseng, M. (2024) · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry · doi:10.1002/etc.5797 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
“In addition to their widespread distribution, because of their small size (typically de fi ned as < 5 mm), microplastics are believed to be bioavailable to a wide range of organisms (Botterell et al., 2019; Galloway et al., 2017).”
BackgroundPan, K., Chen, C. C., Lin, L., Xu, H., Chen, F., Li, Y., Zhu, X., Ma, J., & Lan, W. (2022) · Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology · doi:10.1007/s00128-022-03570-y · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Trophic transfer of polyester microfibres across a multi-level marine food web.
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- Authors
- Botterell, Z. L. R., Beaumont, N., Dorrington, T., Steinke, M., Thompson, R. C., & Lindeque, P. K.
- Affiliations
- University of Essex (GB)
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory (GB)
- Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (GB)
- University of Plymouth (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Lindeque, Penelope K.
- Venue
- Environmental Pollution
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-02
- Volume
- 245
- Pages
- 98-110
- ISSN
- 0269-7491 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2896923995
- Cited by
- 966
- References
- 106
- Citations by year
- 2026: 97 · 2025: 122 · 2024: 153 · 2023: 154 · 2022: 164 · 2021: 132 · 2020: 107 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 3.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Environmental Pollution (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Marine Biological Association (acceptedVersion)
- Open Access at Essex (University of Essex) (acceptedVersion)
- PEARL (University of Plymouth) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- EnvEast NERC (NE/L002582/1)
- Natural Environment Research Council (NE/L003988/1)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Keywords
- microplastics, marine zooplankton, microplastic ingestion, bioavailability, trophic transfer, food webs, feeding behaviour, growth and development, reproduction, lifespan, microplastic size and shape, laboratory versus field conditions, shellfish stocks
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Biological Availability, Eating, Environmental Monitoring, Feeding Behavior, Plastics, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Zooplankton, Food Chain
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
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