Tracing the fate of microplastic carbon in the aquatic food web by compound-specific isotope analysis.

ABSTRACT: Increasing abundance of microplastics (MP) in marine and freshwaters is currently one of the greatest environmental concerns. Since plastics are fairly resistant to chemical decomposition, breakdown and reutilization of MP carbon complexes requires microbial activity. Currently, only a few microbial isolates have been shown to degrade MPs, and direct measurements of the fate of the MP carbon are still lacking. We used compound-specific isotope analysis to track the fate of fully labelled ¹³C-polyethylene (PE) MP carbon across the aquatic microbial-animal interface. Isotopic values of respired CO₂ and membrane lipids showed that MP carbon was partly mineralized and partly used for cell growth. Microbial mineralization and assimilation of PE-MP carbon was most active wh

SUBMITTER: Taipale SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6934716 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature