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A hidden lethal effect of long microplastic fibres on the coastal copepod Acartia erythraea

We investigated the lethal effects of a long fibrous microplastic (the range of lengths, widths, and thicknesses were 1.5–3.6 mm, 10–16 μm, and 7–8.5 μm, respectively) made of polyethylene terephthalate textile, on the marine copepod Acartia erythraea. In laboratory, starved copepods were observed t...

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Main Authors: Takahashi, Kazutaka, Teh, Jun Chin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114548/1/114548.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114548/
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0025326X24009950
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spelling my.upm.eprints.1145482025-01-17T09:00:35Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114548/ A hidden lethal effect of long microplastic fibres on the coastal copepod Acartia erythraea Takahashi, Kazutaka Teh, Jun Chin We investigated the lethal effects of a long fibrous microplastic (the range of lengths, widths, and thicknesses were 1.5–3.6 mm, 10–16 μm, and 7–8.5 μm, respectively) made of polyethylene terephthalate textile, on the marine copepod Acartia erythraea. In laboratory, starved copepods were observed to take in a piece of fibrous microplastic sedimented on the bottom. While no individual ingested the entire fibre, the tip of the ingested fibre reached deep into the gut of the copepods. This suggests that ingestion was not accidental but purposeful behaviour to take in non-living organic matter as a supplementary food source. All copepods that had the fibre in their mouths eventually died within 24-h because the fibre penetrated deep into the gut, preventing feeding and potentially causing stress. Our finding implies that a single piece of microplastic fibre remaining at the bottom of coastal zones could continue to kill copepods owing to its non-degradability. Elsevier 2024 Article PeerReviewed text en cc_by_4 http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114548/1/114548.pdf Takahashi, Kazutaka and Teh, Jun Chin (2024) A hidden lethal effect of long microplastic fibres on the coastal copepod Acartia erythraea. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 208. art. no. 117018. pp. 1-4. ISSN 0025-326X; eISSN: 1879-3363 https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0025326X24009950 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117018
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language English
description We investigated the lethal effects of a long fibrous microplastic (the range of lengths, widths, and thicknesses were 1.5–3.6 mm, 10–16 μm, and 7–8.5 μm, respectively) made of polyethylene terephthalate textile, on the marine copepod Acartia erythraea. In laboratory, starved copepods were observed to take in a piece of fibrous microplastic sedimented on the bottom. While no individual ingested the entire fibre, the tip of the ingested fibre reached deep into the gut of the copepods. This suggests that ingestion was not accidental but purposeful behaviour to take in non-living organic matter as a supplementary food source. All copepods that had the fibre in their mouths eventually died within 24-h because the fibre penetrated deep into the gut, preventing feeding and potentially causing stress. Our finding implies that a single piece of microplastic fibre remaining at the bottom of coastal zones could continue to kill copepods owing to its non-degradability.
format Article
author Takahashi, Kazutaka
Teh, Jun Chin
spellingShingle Takahashi, Kazutaka
Teh, Jun Chin
A hidden lethal effect of long microplastic fibres on the coastal copepod Acartia erythraea
author_facet Takahashi, Kazutaka
Teh, Jun Chin
author_sort Takahashi, Kazutaka
title A hidden lethal effect of long microplastic fibres on the coastal copepod Acartia erythraea
title_short A hidden lethal effect of long microplastic fibres on the coastal copepod Acartia erythraea
title_full A hidden lethal effect of long microplastic fibres on the coastal copepod Acartia erythraea
title_fullStr A hidden lethal effect of long microplastic fibres on the coastal copepod Acartia erythraea
title_full_unstemmed A hidden lethal effect of long microplastic fibres on the coastal copepod Acartia erythraea
title_sort hidden lethal effect of long microplastic fibres on the coastal copepod acartia erythraea
publisher Elsevier
publishDate 2024
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114548/1/114548.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114548/
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0025326X24009950
_version_ 1823093199893168128
score 13.239859

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