“In these larvae, the mitochondria (the ‘power plants’ of the cell) weren’t working properly, and they showed signs of oxidative stress, which can damage the cells.”
The study sheds light on the genetic processes behind these abnormalities. In the case of new PVC nurdles, the damage is caused by high concentrations of zinc leaching into the water.
Larvae exposed to 10% PVC contamination developed guts in vitro, while levels of 5% and 1% also caused fatal abnormalities.
Pollutants
Beach samples collected in Cornwall, UK, did not release high levels of zinc because most of the additive they contained had already been released into the sea.
However, such particles are known to collect a variety of organic pollutants, and the release of these pollutants explains the anomalies seen in this study.
Dr Jimenez-Guri said: “Our results show that marine plastic pollution has a clear and specific detrimental effect on the development of sea urchin larvae.”
“We’ve identified genes that are affected by these pollutants, and we know that many animal species rely on the same genes during critical early developmental stages.
toxicity
“It is therefore possible that plastic pollution could lead to similar anomalies in other species, which we are already investigating in the next phase of our research.
“While the levels of pollution assessed in the study are uncommon in the ocean, marine plastic pollution continues to increase rapidly – with potentially serious consequences for marine life.”
Dr. Jimenez-Guri’s work was funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Scholarship.
Papers published in journals overall environmental scienceentitled: “Plastic leachate-induced toxicity during sea urchin embryonic development: insights into molecular pathways affected by PVC.”
the author
Brendan Montague is ecologist.
