Plastic use and waste are pressing environmental and human health issues. Since the 1970s, plastic production has increased by more than 600%, with 300 million tons produced in 2015. The increase in plastic production has resulted in an accumulation of non-biodegradable waste, leading to detrimental effects on the oceans, wildlife, and humans. The aim of this study is to assess the acute toxicity of three common plastics (polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, and polystyrene) on marine organisms, and to compare the toxicity of plastic to that of stainless-steel and glass containers. We used mortality of barnacle larvae to measure acute toxicity. Well water was incubated in glass containers, stainless-steel, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, and polystyrene containers for 24 hours at 2 temperatures (24°C and 28°C), then salinity was adjusted. After adjusting salinity, dilution series using aged filtered sea water and barnacle larvae added and assed for toxic effects after 24-hour.
Results/Conclusions
The three plastics had measurable acute toxicity, polystyrene had the highest morality when incubated at 24°C temperature (72.7±4.61%), while polyethylene terephthalate had the highest mortality when incubated at 28°C (97.8±5.55%). Mortality of barnacles incubated in water from stainless-steel, was statistically insignificant to that of well water stored in glass at both 24°C and 28°C (ANOVA, df=1, p-value=0.658 and p-value=0.157, respectively). Our preliminary data suggest that increased temperatures result in higher concentrations of toxins being released from plastic. Stainless-steel or glass may be safer containment materials than plastic.