Assessment of Microplastic Size Range and Ingestion Intensity by Gmelinoides fasciatus Stebbing, an Invasive Species of Lake Onego.

To indicate the potential role of Gmelinoides fasciatus, an invasive species of Lake Onego, in the inclusion of microplastics into food webs, several indicators were evaluated: its ability to ingest microplastics, the preferred size ranges, and the ingestion intensity. For this purpose, irregularly shaped polystyrene copolymer particles (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastics, artificially crushed) of four size classes (<50, 50-100, 100-250, >250 µm) were used. Gmelinoides fasciatus actively ingested microplastic particles, and in treatment with particles of 100-250 µm in size, the consumption rate was the highest.

Method for microplastics extraction from Lake sediments.

In recent years, microplastics (MPs) contamination has been emphasized as one of the most global ecological problems. Bottom sediments were identified as one of the major sinks of MPs, while river-lake systems - as the main transport routs of MPs into the coastal seas and the World Ocean. Thus, the MPs determination in freshwater sediments is an important task for identifying sedimentation processes and contamination sources.