Individual and combined toxicity of microplastics and diuron differs between freshwater and marine diatoms

Microplastics are considered as the emerging pollutants, which not only directly affect aquatic organisms, but also causes combined pollution by adsorbing other pollutants. Diuron, as one of the most widely used herbicides, is frequently monitored in the aquatic environment for its adverse effects on aquatic organisms. However, little is known about the combined toxicity of microplastics and diuron to aquatic organisms, especially diatoms. In this study, freshwater diatom (Cyclotella meneghiniana) and marine diatom (Skeletonema costatum) were selected to study the individual and combined toxicity of microplastics (polystyrene, 0.6– 1.0 μm) and diuron. Experimental concentrations of microplastics and diuron were set at 50 mg/L and 100 μg/L, respectively, which have been shown to significantly inhibit the growth of aquatic organisms. Results suggested that both single microplastics and single diuron significantly inhibited the growth of the two diatoms, while significant SOD and MDA increase were only found in single diuron exposure. For diatoms exposed to individual microplastics, the microplastic particles adsorbed inside Cyclotella sp. and those aggregated around Skeletonema sp. were the major factor inhibiting the growth of diatom, respectively. According to the independent action model, the combined toxicity for both diatoms were all antagonistic. The adsorption behavior of microplastics to diuron alleviated the intracellular damage to diatoms caused by diuron, and the oxidative stress induced by diuron mitigated the physical damage to diatoms caused by microplastics. Collectively, our findings suggest that the co-existence of microplastics and diuron may affect their respective toxicity to diatoms. The mechanism of this “cross-phenomenon” between microplastics and diuron and their combined toxicity to different aquatic organisms need to be further studied. [Display omitted] •Explore the single and combined toxicity of MPs and diuron to two diatoms•Single MPs cause physical damages and single diuron induce oxidative stress.•MPs interact with diuron and exert an antagonistic toxicity on both diatoms.•Single & combined toxicity was higher to freshwater diatom than to marine diatom.