Predator traits influence uptake and trophic transfer of nanoplastics in aquatic systems-a mechanistic study.
Amy Ockenden, Denise M Mitrano, Melanie Kah, Louis A Tremblay, Kevin S Simon
Author Information
Amy Ockenden: School of Environment, The University of Auckland, Science Centre, Building 302, 23 Symonds Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland, 1010 New Zealand.
Denise M Mitrano: ETH Zurich, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Universitatstrasse 16, Zurich, 8092 Switzerland.
Melanie Kah: School of Environment, The University of Auckland, Science Centre, Building 302, 23 Symonds Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland, 1010 New Zealand.
Louis A Tremblay: School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Building 110, 3A Symonds Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland, 1010 New Zealand.
Kevin S Simon: School of Environment, The University of Auckland, Science Centre, Building 302, 23 Symonds Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland, 1010 New Zealand.
Predicting the response of aquatic species to environmental contaminants is challenging, in part because of the diverse biological traits within communities that influence their uptake and transfer of contaminants. Nanoplastics are a contaminant of growing concern, and previous research has documented their uptake and transfer in aquatic food webs. Employing an established method of nanoplastic tracking using metal-doped plastics, we studied the influence of biological traits on the uptake of nanoplastic from water and diet in freshwater predators through two exposure assays. We focused on backswimmers () and damselfly larvae () - two freshwater macroinvertebrates with contrasting physiological and morphological traits related to feeding and respiration strategies. Our findings reveal striking differences in nanoplastic transfer dynamics: damselfly larvae accumulated nanoplastics from water and diet and then efficiently eliminated 92% of nanoplastic after five days of depuration. In contrast, backswimmers did not accumulate nanoplastic from either source. Differences in nanoplastic transfer dynamics may be explained by the contrasting physiological and morphological traits of these organisms. Overall, our results highlight the importance and potential of considering biological traits in predicting transfer of nanoplastics through aquatic food webs. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s43591-024-00096-4.
