abstract
For decades the oceans have been a sink for plastic debris. Over the years several studies have been focused on the effects of macro- and microplastics on vertebrates, but few have had benthic invertebrates as their research subject or studied small-sized plastic particles of sizes below 100 nm. The aim of this study was to understand the effect of waterborne 100 nm polystyrene nanoplastics (PS NPs, 0.0005-5 mg/L) on the regenerative capacity of the marine polychaeta Hediste diversicolor, a keystone species in intertidal and coastal environments with high ecological and economic importance. Results showed that PS NPs tend to aggregate/agglomerate along the exposure time and induce significant decreases on the regenerative capacity of these organisms at higher concentrations (0.005-5 mg/L). This study highlighted the potential consequences of the presence of NPs to organisms, supporting the need for further studies.
keywords
SUBLETHAL PREDATION; MICROPLASTICS; ENVIRONMENT; CAPACITY; EXPOSURE; ECOLOGY
subject category
Biodiversity & Conservation; Environmental Sciences & Ecology
authors
Silva, MSS; Oliveira, M; Lopez, D; Martins, M; Figueira, E; Pires, A
Groups
acknowledgements
Thanks are due to FCT/MCTES for the financial support to CESAM (UID/AMB/50017/2019), through national funds. AP was contracted under Decree-Law 57/2016 Art.23rd - Transitional Rule. MO had financial support of the program Investigador FCT, co-funded by the Human Potential Operational Programme and European Social Fund (IF/00335-2015). Adilia Pires is also funded by CYTED, through the RED Iberoanericana RIESCOS (419RT0578).