Polystyrene microplastics do not affect juvenile brown trout (Salmo trutta f. fario) or modulate effects of the pesticide methiocarb

Background There has been a rising interest within the scientific community and the public about the environmental risk related to the abundance of microplastics in aquatic environments. Up to now, however, scientific knowledge in this context has been scarce and insufficient for a reliable risk assessment. To remedy this scarcity of data, we investigated possible adverse effects of polystyrene particles (10 4 particles/L) and the pesticide methiocarb (1 mg/L) in juvenile brown trout ( Salmo trutta f. fario ) both by themselves as well as in combination after a 96 h laboratory exposure. PS beads (density 1.05 g/mL) were cryogenically milled and fractionated resulting in irregular-shaped particles (