Plastics in scene: a review of the effect of plastics in aquatic crustaceans

GONZÁLEZ PISANI XIMENA; LÓPEZ GRECO, LAURA S.

Valdivia

Congreso; SETAC Latin America 14th Biennial Meeting; 2021

Plastic pollution in aquatic environments is present in all compartments from surface water to benthic sediment, becoming a topic of emerging concern due to the internalization, retention time, and effects of these particles in aquatic biota. Crustacea with nearly 70000 species, broad distribution and roles in the trophic webs is a significant target of the increasing plastic pollution. This review gathers the available information on the use of Crustacea as model species in environmental impact for toxicity screening and hazard assessment. In this context, we summarize the published information based on the chronological and geographical aspects of the studies, the type of plastic detected, the species and habitats studied, the type of study (effects in field or laboratory exposure) and the impact both, at individual and population levels. At the present, 74 papers reported the impact of plastics in crustaceans (2011-2020), including macroplastic (plastic debris), microplastic (weathering plastic, microbeads, and microfibers), and nanoplastic, in a wide variety of components, principally polyethylene and polystyrene. The studies were focused on 45 species: 52% marine with a higher frequency in species of economic interest (fisheries and aquaculture) and decapods; 40% freshwater with a higher frequency in standard test species, principally cladocera; and 8% in estuarial species with ecological interest. The 63% reported analysis of toxicity (30% field study, 70 % bioassays) and 37% described the presence of plastic in digestive tract or gill chamber. The analyzed effects at the individual level include alterations in: survival, feeding rate, accumulation and assimilation efficiency, reproductive output, growth, malformations, behavioral disorders, osmoregulation, enzyme activity, oxidative stress, and genotoxicity. At the ecological level, the main processes include: selection and use of plastic debris, food-web transfer, bioaccumulation and transgenerational effects. All results suggest that crustaceans are at high risk for ecosystem disadvantage by plastic contamination loads, which reflects their relevance as bioindicators. Besides we identify knowledge gaps to propose some future directions in research, like the impact on ecdysis, on embryo development, on biomagnification, and the effects on target fisheries species which involves a possible effect on human health through ingestion (RIESCOS-CYTED 2018-P418RT0146).