Abstract
Microplastics have a negative impact on aquatic ecosystems. Gastropod mollusks serve as bioindicators and are good model systems for ecotoxicological studies. To assess oxidative damage, we exposed the ram's horn snail, Indoplanorbis exustus, to various concentrations of low-density polyethylene microplastics (size range 8–100 µm). The main objectives were microplastics preparation, characterization, and examination of their effect on the essential organs of I. exustus. Scanning electron microscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction techniques confirmed the polymer type of laboratory prepared polyethylene microplastics. The LC50 value of microplastics for snails was calculated to be 872 mg/L after 96 h of exposure. We observed a significant elevation in superoxide dismutase, catalase and lipid peroxidation levels with increasing concentrations of microplastics. Microplastics exposure also affected protein content, total food intake and total weights. Moreover, snails failed to recover post-treatment. Snails collected from contaminated source of microplastics served as positive control for the study. Hence, we can conclude that microplastics cause overall impairment in the physiological parameters and show adverse effects on the freshwater snail, I. exustus.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the anonymous reviewers who contributed to improving the quality of this manuscript. We acknowledge the Head, Department of Zoology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, for providing equipment and infrastructure. Partial financial support was provided by the University Grants Commission—Centre for Advanced Studies. We would also like to acknowledge Dr. Saurabh Kalamkar for his inputs in data analysis.
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Sapkale, D., Kurkute, P., Mistry, A. et al. Polyethylene Microplastics Affected Survival Rate, Food Intake and Altered Oxidative Stress Parameters in Freshwater Snail Indoplanorbis exustus. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 111, 67 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-023-03813-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-023-03813-6