Effects of Polypropylene Microplastics on the Growth and Reproduction of Gammarus Aequicauda

The widespread contamination of the marine environments by plastics is emerged as a global concern due to their hazardous characteristics, making toxicity data necessary to assess the aquatic risk of this contaminant. Polypropylene (PP) microplastics (MPs) are the predominant environmental pollutants in the marine environment and their toxic effect on biota is scarce. The aim of this study was to detect sublethal ecotoxicological effects of PP MPs (<tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$38-120\ \mu\mathrm{m}$</tex>) on growth and reproductive traits of the crustacean amphipod Gammarus aequicauda. Amphipods of 400 µm head length were exposed to 2 and 5 mg/L PP for 65 days. Growth of amphipods, expressed as head length and antennae segments number was negatively affected by PP and increases with increasing PP concentration. A negative impact on reproductive traits was also observed with an high percentage of aborts and a reduced number of newborns.