The Effect of Microplastic on the Uptake of Chemicals by the Lugworm Arenicola marina (L.) under Environmentally Relevant Exposure Conditions
Open accessAbstract
Abstract It has been hypothesized that ingestion of microplastic increases exposure of aquatic organisms to hydrophobic contaminants. To date, most laboratory studies investigated chemical transfer from ingested microplastic without taking other exposure pathways into account. Therefore, we studied the effect of polyethylene (PE) microplastic in sediment on PCB uptake by Arenicola marina as a model species, quantifying uptake fluxes from all natural exposure pathways. PCB concentrations in sediment, biota lipids (Clip) and porewater measured with passive samplers were used to derive lipid-normalized bioaccumulation metrics Clip, Biota sediment accumulation factor (BSAF), Bioaccumulation factor (BAF) and the Biota plastic accumulation factor (BPAF). Small effects of PE addition were detected suggesting slightly increased or decreased bioaccumulation. However, the differences decreased in magnitude dependent on the metric used to assess bioaccumulation, in the order: Clip > BSAF > BPAF > BAF, and were nonsignificant for BAF. The fact that BAF, that is, normalization of Clip on porewater concentration, largely removed all effects of PE, shows that PE did not act as a measurable vector of PCBs. Biodynamic model analysis confirmed that PE ingestion contributed marginally to bioaccumulation. This work confirmed model-based predictions on the limited relevance of microplastic for bioaccumulation under environmentally realistic conditions, and illustrated the importance of assessing exposure through all media in microplastic bioaccumulation studies.
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No mortality was reported for the marine isopod Idotea emarginata exposed to PE, PS, and PA microplastics, or for the marine lugworm Arenicola marina exposed to PE microplastics.
“Furthermore, no mortality was reported for the marine isopod Idotea emarginata exposed to PE, PS, and PA (polyamide) microplastics and the marine lugworm A. marina exposed to PE microplastics.19”
From Microplastic Effect Thresholds for Freshwater Benthic Macroinvertebrates (2018) · cites this paper as [19]
The Results and discussion section (“Lugworm Survival, Feeding Activity, Weight, and Lipid Content”) reports 81% overall lugworm survival, meaning mortality did occur. It found no significant difference in survival between PE treatments, which is not the same as no mortality. The cited paper does not examine Idotea emarginata. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMicroplastic uptake had no effect on the marine isopod Idotea emarginata, but it caused weight loss and lower feeding activity in the marine lugworm Arenicola marina.
“Microplastic uptake did not cause any effects on the marine isopod Idotea emarginata(16) but did cause weight loss and a reduced feeding activity for the marine lugworm Arenicola marina.17−19”
From Microplastic Effect Thresholds for Freshwater Benthic Macroinvertebrates (2018) · cites this paper as [19]
The Results and discussion section, “Lugworm Survival, Feeding Activity, Weight, and Lipid Content” (page not supplied), reports significantly lower faeces-heap mass in polyethylene treatments, supporting reduced feeding activity in Arenicola marina. Lugworms also lost weight, but weight loss did not significantly differ among treatments, so this paper does not support attributing the weight loss to microplastic. The isopod finding is attached to a different citation in the citing sentence. (LLM, conf=0.91)
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- Authors
- Besseling, E., Foekema, E. M., van den Heuvel-Greve, M. J., & Koelmans, A. A.
- Affiliations
- Wageningen Marine Research (NL)
- Wageningen Marine Research , P.O. Box 68, ,
- Corresponding author
- Besseling, Ellen
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2017-07-06
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 15
- Pages
- 8795-8804
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- PMC
- PMC5541328
- OpenAlex
- W2726087403
- Cited by
- 153
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 5
- FWCI
- 7.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- 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 › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
- Keywords
- Arenicola marina, lugworm, polychlorinated biphenyls, bioaccumulation, chemical uptake, sediment ingestion, pore water, bioaccumulation factor, biodynamic model, exposure pathways, passive sampling
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Plastics, Polychaeta, Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Geologic Sediments, Aquatic Organisms
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