Incubation in Wastewater Reduces the Multigenerational Effects of Microplastics in<i>Daphnia magna</i>
Christoph Schür, Carolin Weil, Marlene Baum, Jonas Wallraff, Michael Schreier, Jörg Oehlmann, Martin Wagner
Abstract
) over four generations using food limitation as an additional, environmentally realistic stressor. Both particle types affect the survival, reproduction, adult and neonate body lengths, and growth. An exposure to pristine microplastics results in the extinction of the third generation of daphnids. In contrast, wastewater-incubated particles induced a lower mortality. The incubation with wastewater does not change the microplastics' size, surface charge, and structure. Consistent with the literature, we assume that the adsorption of dissolved organic matter is a key aging process reducing the toxicity of microplastics. Consequently, toxicity testing using pristine microplastics may overestimate the effects of plastic particles in nature.