Abstract
BackgroundPlastic pollution affects all ecosystems, and detrimental effects to animals have been reported in a growing number of studies. However, there is a paucity of evidence for effects on terrestrial animals in comparison to those in the marine realm.MethodsWe used the fly Drosophila melanogaster to study the effects that exposure to plastics may have on life history traits and immune response. We reared flies in four conditions: In media containing 1% virgin polyethylene, with no chemical additives; in media supplemented with 1% or 4% polyvinyl chloride, known to have a high content of added chemicals; and control flies in non-supplemented media. Plastic particle size ranged from 23–500 µm. We studied fly survival to viral infection, the length of the larval and pupal stage, sex ratios, fertility and the size of the resultant adult flies. We then performed crossings of F1 flies in non-supplemented media and looked at the life history traits of the F2.ResultsFlies treated with plastics in the food media showed changes in fertility and sex ratio, but showed no differences in developmental times, adult size or the capacity to fight infections in comparison with controls. However, the offspring of treated flies reared in non-supplemented food had shorter life cycles, and those coming from both polyvinyl chloride treatments were smaller than those offspring of controls.
Highlights
Plastics are found ubiquitously contaminating aquatic and terrestrial systems, but we still know little of their effects on health
In order to determine if plastic elicits an effect on the ability of flies to resist viral infection, we performed a viral resistance assay across individuals that had been reared on each of the plastic treatments
To observe if there was an effect of plastic treatment we looked at the interaction between the viral treatment and plastic rearing environment, which appeared to be non-significant (Viral Treatment × Plastics: χ 2 = 10.55, df = 710, p = 0.103)
Summary
Plastics are found ubiquitously contaminating aquatic and terrestrial systems, but we still know little of their effects on health. We used the fly Drosophila melanogaster to study the effects that exposure to plastics may have on life history traits and immune response. We studied fly survival to viral infection, the length of the larval and pupal stage, sex ratios, fertility and the size of the resultant adult flies. We performed crossings of F1 flies in non-supplemented media and looked at the life history traits of the F2. Flies treated with plastics in the food media showed changes in fertility and sex ratio, but showed no differences in developmental times, adult size or the capacity to fight infections in comparison with controls. The offspring of treated flies reared in non-supplemented food had shorter life cycles, and those coming from both polyvinyl chloride treatments were smaller than those offspring of controls
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
