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The Percent Uptake of Polyethylene After Three Trophic Levels, From Rotifera to Artemia to Medusa

CSEF · 2023 Toxicology Fourth Award

Siebel S ilas, Sohn Ellie, Zirn Katha rina · 11

Overview

An estimated 24 trillion particles of microplastics (MPs) live alongside seaborne organisms in the ocean. A previous study successfully transferred MPs from Copepods to Ephyra and found that MPs had no effect on the organisms' behavior. In our experiment, using Fluorescent Green Polyethylene Microspheres, we tracked the transfer of MPs through three trophic levels. We fed MPs to Rotifera, 20 hours later fed the Rotifera-MP to Artemia, and 6 hours later fed the Artemia-MP to Medusa (mature Aurelia Aurita). To quantify the number of MPs, we calculated the organism and MP concentrations of the smaller organisms and crushed the larger ones, to release the MP particles into the surrounding solution. We then used an ultraviolet microscope to photograph the solutions and used ImageJ to analyze the samples. Our results indicate that MPs will successfully transfer up the food chain. There was no statistical difference between the percent uptake of total MPs in the food chain in Rotifera and Artemia. However, the percent uptake significantly decreased in Medusa. Furthermore, we indirectly found that MPs caused Rotifera-MP and Artemia-MP to die >24 hours after the ingestion of MPs. However, the Medusae were able to expel the majority of the MPs from their system after three days and continued to have normal function. These findings demonstrate that MPs: can make their way up three trophic levels, have a detrimental effect on certain organisms, and at any stage of the food chain, the MPs will make their way back into the water, allowing for the perpetuation of this MP trophic transfer cycle.

Source coverage

This record comes from a published award list, not a complete project archive. Its abstract comes from CSEF's public project showcase as archived by the Internet Archive before judging (https://web.archive.org/web/20230401224130/https://ca-csef.zfairs.com/showcase/ShowcaseInfo?f=838e60b7-ea75-46e8-865c-fde4864244b3); the version presented may differ.

Awards (1)

Competition history

  • CSEF 2023 Toxicology · Entry S2103

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