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Raw data of the manuscript "Leachates from Weathered Polypropylene Items, But Not from Polylactic Acid, Induce Ecotoxicological Effects on a Marine Diatom”
Citable as data publication
Niu, Z.; Segura, S.A.; Le Gall, M.; Curto, M.; Demeyer, E.; Asselman, J.; Janssen, C.R.; Dhakal, H.N.; Davies, P.; Everaert, G.; Catarino A.I.; Flanders Marine Institute; Blue Growth Research Lab; Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer; University of Portsmouth; Centexbel; (2025): Raw data of the manuscript "Leachates from Weathered Polypropylene Items, But Not from Polylactic Acid, Induce Ecotoxicological Effects on a Marine Diatom”. Marine Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.14284/745
Contact: Niu, Zhiyue

Availability: This work is licensed under http://vocab.nerc.ac.uk/collection/L08/current/MO meaning it is under moratorium until 2025-10-27

Description

The goal of the present work was to assess the ecotoxicological effects of plastic leachates from pristine and weathered items on a marine diatom. The dataset was created by Niu et al. based on the microalgal growth inhibition experiments (during 2021 and 2022) and chemical analysis (during 2023) at the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and Ghent University, Belgium. 

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The goal of our work was to assess the ecotoxicological effects of plastic leachates from pristine and weathered items on a marine diatom. To do so, we exposed the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum to the leachates from pristine and UV-weathered self-reinforced (SR-) polylactic acid (PLA) and polypropylene (PP) items. As a positive control, we assessed the response of the diatom growth to two associated compounds (dedecan-1-ol and 2,4- di-tert-butylphenol), components of the tested items. Weathered plastic items were obtained after being exposed to 57-day artificial ultraviolet radiation, simulating 18-months of solar exposure in central Europe. Our results indicate that neither leachates from pristine nor weathered SR-PLA items had adverse effects on P. tricornutum growth. This outcome was corroborated by the measured concentrations of associated compounds (i.e. dodecan-1-ol) in leachates, which were at least three orders of magnitude lower than the 72-h EC50 of diatom growth (dodecan-1-ol: 1.56 mg / L, 2,4,-DTBP: 1.52 mg / L). Leachates from weathered SR-PP items at full-strength concentration induced 51% greater growth inhibition than control treatments, and 43% greater inhibition than leachates from pristine SR-PP items at the same concentration. Our results suggest that leachates from the tested weathered SR-PP items inhibited the population growth of P. tricornutum, although at plastic concentrations above environmentally relevant levels. 


Scope
Themes:
Biology > Plankton > Phytoplankton, Coastal studies (e.g. shores, estuaries), Environmental quality/pollution
Keywords:
Marine diatoms, Plastic leachates, Plastic-associated chemicals, Polylactic acid, Polypropylenes, ANE, North Sea, Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin, 1897

Geographical coverage
ANE, North Sea [Marine Regions]

Temporal coverage
1 January 2021 - 31 December 2023

Taxonomic coverage
Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin, 1897 [WoRMS]

Parameter
Algal cell density Methodology
Algal cell density: Manual cell-counting under optical microscope

Contributors
Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ), moredata creator
Ghent University; Blue Growth Research Lab, moredata creator
Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer; Centre Bretagne; Research and Technological Development Unit; Laboratoire Structures Matériaux Avancés et Sollicitations Hyperbares (SMASH), moredata creator
University of Portsmouth; School of Mechanical and Design Engineering; Advanced Polymers and Composites Research Group (APC), moredata creator

Project
INSPIRE: Innovative Solutions for Plastic Free European Rivers, more
Funding Horizon Europe
Grant agreement ID 101112879
PLUXIN: Plastic Flux for Innovation and Business Opportunities in Flanders, more
Funding VLAIO
Grant agreement ID HBC.2019.2904
SeaBioComp: Development and demonstration of durable biobased composites for a marine environment, more
Funding Other EU initiatives out of framework

Dataset status: Completed
Data type: Data
Data origin: Research: experiment
Metadatarecord created: 2025-04-28
Information last updated: 2025-05-02
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy