Investigating the potential uptake of microplastic-derived carbon into a boreal lake food web using carbon-13 labelled plastic
Microplastics degrade slowly over time, leaching carbon (C) that could be subsequently incorporated into aquatic food webs. Current estimates of microplastic degradation vary, and little is known about microplastic-derived C fate under natural environmental conditions. To investigate whether micropl...
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| Language: | English |
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Canadian Science Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | FACETS |
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| Online Access: | https://facetsjournal.com/doi/10.1139/facets-2024-0108 |
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| author | Stephanie Graves Shao-Min Chen Rachel McNamee Tazi H. Rodrigues Brian Hayden Chelsea M. Rochman Jennifer F. Provencher Michael D. Rennie Daniel Layton-Matthews Matthew Leybourne Owen A. Sherwood Diane M. Orihel |
| author_facet | Stephanie Graves Shao-Min Chen Rachel McNamee Tazi H. Rodrigues Brian Hayden Chelsea M. Rochman Jennifer F. Provencher Michael D. Rennie Daniel Layton-Matthews Matthew Leybourne Owen A. Sherwood Diane M. Orihel |
| author_sort | Stephanie Graves |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Microplastics degrade slowly over time, leaching carbon (C) that could be subsequently incorporated into aquatic food webs. Current estimates of microplastic degradation vary, and little is known about microplastic-derived C fate under natural environmental conditions. To investigate whether microplastics leach C that is subsequently incorporated into aquatic food webs, we added isotopically enriched microplastics to Lake 378 at the Experimental Lakes Area in Ontario, Canada. In an ∼1100 L limnocorral (in situ open-bottom enclosure), we added 99% 13C-labelled polystyrene (8–216 µm in longest dimension) at a nominal concentration of 3268 particles/L. A second limnocorral without microplastics served as a negative control. Monthly measurements of δ13C-DIC and δ13C-DOC in filtered water revealed no detectable leaching of 13C from the plastic. Compound-specific isotope analysis of δ13C in amino acids of bulk plankton and periphyton revealed a slight (0.5‰) enrichment in 13C, within the range of natural variability for these organisms. Under the natural conditions of temperate oligotrophic lakes, degradation of microplastics is likely a very slow process that was not possible to detect in this 4-month experiment. Future studies should focus on assessing degradation of microplastics under realistic field scenarios to improve estimates of degradation pathways and associated time scales. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2632b95be19a4533bbd6357efe4936b2 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2371-1671 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Canadian Science Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | FACETS |
| spelling | doaj-art-2632b95be19a4533bbd6357efe4936b22025-08-20T02:58:04ZengCanadian Science PublishingFACETS2371-16712025-01-01101910.1139/facets-2024-0108Investigating the potential uptake of microplastic-derived carbon into a boreal lake food web using carbon-13 labelled plasticStephanie Graves0Shao-Min Chen1Rachel McNamee2Tazi H. Rodrigues3Brian Hayden4Chelsea M. Rochman5Jennifer F. Provencher6Michael D. Rennie7Daniel Layton-Matthews8Matthew Leybourne9Owen A. Sherwood10Diane M. Orihel11Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, CanadaDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, CanadaDepartment of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, CanadaDepartment of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, CanadaDepartment of Biology, Canadian Rivers Institute, University of New Brunswick, New Brunswick, CanadaDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaEcotoxicology and Wildlife Health Division, Science and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada, National Wildlife Research Center, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Raven Road, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, CanadaDepartment of Biology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON, P7B 5E1, Canada; IISD Experimental Lakes Area, Winnipeg, MB R3B 0T4, CanadaQueen's Facility for Isotope Research, Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, CanadaQueen's Facility for Isotope Research, Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, CanadaDepartment of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, CanadaDepartment of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, CanadaMicroplastics degrade slowly over time, leaching carbon (C) that could be subsequently incorporated into aquatic food webs. Current estimates of microplastic degradation vary, and little is known about microplastic-derived C fate under natural environmental conditions. To investigate whether microplastics leach C that is subsequently incorporated into aquatic food webs, we added isotopically enriched microplastics to Lake 378 at the Experimental Lakes Area in Ontario, Canada. In an ∼1100 L limnocorral (in situ open-bottom enclosure), we added 99% 13C-labelled polystyrene (8–216 µm in longest dimension) at a nominal concentration of 3268 particles/L. A second limnocorral without microplastics served as a negative control. Monthly measurements of δ13C-DIC and δ13C-DOC in filtered water revealed no detectable leaching of 13C from the plastic. Compound-specific isotope analysis of δ13C in amino acids of bulk plankton and periphyton revealed a slight (0.5‰) enrichment in 13C, within the range of natural variability for these organisms. Under the natural conditions of temperate oligotrophic lakes, degradation of microplastics is likely a very slow process that was not possible to detect in this 4-month experiment. Future studies should focus on assessing degradation of microplastics under realistic field scenarios to improve estimates of degradation pathways and associated time scales.https://facetsjournal.com/doi/10.1139/facets-2024-0108amino acidsbiodegradationaquatic food weblimnocorralpolystyrenestable isotope analysis |
| spellingShingle | Stephanie Graves Shao-Min Chen Rachel McNamee Tazi H. Rodrigues Brian Hayden Chelsea M. Rochman Jennifer F. Provencher Michael D. Rennie Daniel Layton-Matthews Matthew Leybourne Owen A. Sherwood Diane M. Orihel Investigating the potential uptake of microplastic-derived carbon into a boreal lake food web using carbon-13 labelled plastic FACETS amino acids biodegradation aquatic food web limnocorral polystyrene stable isotope analysis |
| title | Investigating the potential uptake of microplastic-derived carbon into a boreal lake food web using carbon-13 labelled plastic |
| title_full | Investigating the potential uptake of microplastic-derived carbon into a boreal lake food web using carbon-13 labelled plastic |
| title_fullStr | Investigating the potential uptake of microplastic-derived carbon into a boreal lake food web using carbon-13 labelled plastic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating the potential uptake of microplastic-derived carbon into a boreal lake food web using carbon-13 labelled plastic |
| title_short | Investigating the potential uptake of microplastic-derived carbon into a boreal lake food web using carbon-13 labelled plastic |
| title_sort | investigating the potential uptake of microplastic derived carbon into a boreal lake food web using carbon 13 labelled plastic |
| topic | amino acids biodegradation aquatic food web limnocorral polystyrene stable isotope analysis |
| url | https://facetsjournal.com/doi/10.1139/facets-2024-0108 |
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