The increasing amount of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems is a significant environmental issue, with adverse effects on marine organisms including invertebrates and vertebrates. This study examined the effects of three types of microfibers on the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana as the test species. The brine shrimps were exposed to two commonly found synthetic microfibers (polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate) and one natural fiber (lyocell). The results suggest that the polyethylene terephthalate microfibers induced high mortality in A. franciscana, while the lyocell caused the least detrimental effects. Gut damage of microfiber-exposed A. franciscana was observed using the dye leakage in the gut layer, and the results show that gut damage occurred in all exposure groups of synthetic and natural microfibers. Overall, our findings indicate that gut damage induced by all three microfibers eventually led to adverse effects and mortality of A. franciscana, highlighting the harmful effects of microfibers, regardless of polymer type.

水生生态系统中微塑料的数量增加是一个重大的环境问题，会对包括无脊椎动物和脊椎动物在内的海洋生物产生不利影响。这项研究检查了三种类型的超细纤维对作为试验物种的卤水虾法国卤虫（Artemia Franciscana）的影响。将盐水虾暴露于两种常见的合成微纤维（聚丙烯和聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯）和一种天然纤维（莱赛尔）。结果表明，在聚对苯二甲酸乙酯微纤维诱导的死亡率高A.旧金山湾，而莱赛尔引起至少不利影响。超细纤维暴露的A. franciscana的肠损伤使用肠道层中的染料渗漏观察到了这种现象，结果表明，在合成和天然超细纤维的所有暴露组中均发生了肠道损害。总的来说，我们的研究结果表明，由所有三种超细纤维引起的肠道损害最终导致了A. franciscana的不利影响和死亡率，从而突出了超细纤维的有害作用，而与聚合物类型无关。