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Ecotoxicology and Human Environmental Health
Effect of microplastic amendment to food on diet assimilation efficiencies of PCBs by fish Stefan Grigorakis, and Kenneth Gregory Drouillard Environ. Sci. Technol., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b02497 • Publication Date (Web): 16 Aug 2018 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on August 17, 2018
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Environmental Science & Technology
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Title: Effect of microplastic amendment to food on diet assimilation efficiencies of PCBs by
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fish
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Stefan Grigorakis†, Ken G. Drouillard†,*
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Ave., Windsor, ON, N9B 3P4, Canada,
Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER), University of Windsor, 401 Sunset
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Abstract
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Diet assimilation efficiencies (AEs) of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) absorbed to
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microplastics and food were determined in goldfish (Carassius auratus). Microplastics were
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spiked with 14 environmentally rare PCBs and incorporated into fish pellets previously spiked
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with a technical PCB mixture (Aroclor 1254). Five diet treatments were created having
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microplastic contents of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25% and fed to fish within 24 h of the diet creation.
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Fish from each treatment were fed a microplastic amended food pellet and PCB AEs were
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determined by mass balance. Microplastic-associated PCBs had lower AEs (geomean 13.36%)
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compared to food matrix-associated PCBs (geomean 51.64%). There were interactions between
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PCB AEs and the microplastic content of the diet. PCBs affiliated with microplastics became
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more bioavailable with increasing microplastic content of food while food matrix-associated
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PCB bioavailability declined when microplastic contents exceeded 5%. Despite controlling for
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microplastic-food contact time, there was some evidence for redistribution of lower KOW food
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matrix-associated PCBs onto microplastics causing a decrease in their AE relative to non-plastic
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and low plastic containing diets. The low bioavailability of microplastic-associated PCBs
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Environmental Science & Technology
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observed in the present study provides further support to indicate that microplastics are unlikely
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to increase POPs bioaccumulation by fish in aquatic systems.
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Keywords
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Microbeads, Persistent Organic Pollutants, Bioaccumulation, Biomagnification, Polyethylene
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Introduction Microplastic pollution is a global phenomenon with their presence being reported in most
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freshwater and marine systems in proximity to populated areas as well as in remote areas.1-3
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Concerns have been raised about the ecotoxicology of microplastics due to their direct and
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indirect impacts on aquatic organisms. 4-7 Direct effects are primarily expected in planktivores
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such as zooplankton, bivalves and filter feeding fish as a result of physical interference with the
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feeding apparatus, digestion, gastrointestinal blockage and/or gastric distention leading to lower
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energy assimilation and growth 8-9. Indirect effects may include toxicity/endocrine disruption
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related to organism exposures to microplastic leachates present in the plastic matrix or from
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contaminants adsorbed/partitioned to microplastic particles during their transport in the
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environment. 10-12
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Apart from filter feeders, fish and wildlife are also exposed to microplastics due to
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trophic transfer and accumulation of plastic particles present in consumed prey items.13-15
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Trophic transfer of microplastics in fish has been confirmed in several studies characterizing
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microplastic presence in the gut tracts of fish collected from the field. 15-18 In the above studies,
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upwards of 40 to 60% of sampled fish contained microplastic particles within their gut tracts at
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mean abundances ranging from 0.3 to 4.3 particles per fish.16-18
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Environmental Science & Technology
Microplastics have hydrophobic characteristics and therefore are capable of sequestering
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other hydrophobic chemicals from the environment, including persistent organic pollutants
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(POPs). 19-20 The partitioning capacity of polyethylene, one of the more common plastics found
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in aquatic environments 21, for POPs ranges from 2.8 to 30% of the partition capacity of
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biological lipids. 20 Considering that lipids typically comprise
