Supplementary information files for "Microfibre ingestion by the Asian Clam (Corbicula fluminea) is dependent on fibre type and biofilm development"

Supplementary files for article "Microfibre ingestion by the Asian Clam (Corbicula fluminea) is dependent on fibre type and biofilm development"Fibrous microplastics represent an anthropogenic pollutant affecting aquatic systems globally. However, fibres formed from natural materials (e.g., cotton or wool) have only recently been recognised as potentially posing similar ecological threats as their synthetic counterparts. In this study we employed a laboratory-based aquarium experiment to examine the ingestion of preselected anthropogenic (polyester – microplastic) and ‘natural’ (cotton) microfibres by the Asian Clam (Corbicula fluminea). We considered how the ingestion, retention, and rejection of preselected microfibres (specific, distinctive colours), differed associated with fibre type (cotton vs polyester), biofilm development (control – no biofilm / uncultured, 1-week culturing and 4-week culturing) and time (1-48 hours). We found that the ingestion of microfibres was complex, dependent on the interaction of culturing and fibre type. Greater retention of synthetic microfibres was recorded compared to ‘natural’ microfibres as the duration of culturing increased. We also observed that ingestion of microfibres was immediate but that microfibres were rejected and visually observed in pseudofaeces. Our results suggest that the time microfibres spend within the environment, allowing biofilm to develop on their surface, influences the ingestion of microfibres and we call for further studies to consider this in the future.© The Author(s) CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0

论文《亚洲蛤（Corbicula fluminea）对微纤维（microfibre）的摄入取决于纤维类型与生物膜（biofilm）形成》的补充材料。
纤维状微塑料（microplastic）是一类全球性人为污染物，对水生生态系统造成危害。
然而，由天然材料（如棉、羊毛）制成的纤维直至近年才被认知，其可能带来与合成纤维同类物相似的生态威胁。
本研究借助实验室水族箱实验，探究亚洲蛤（Corbicula fluminea）对预先选定的人为源微纤维（聚酯——微塑料（microplastic））与“天然”微纤维（棉）的摄入情况。
本研究分析了具有特定鲜明色彩的微纤维的摄入、留存与排出过程，如何随纤维类型（棉与聚酯）、生物膜（biofilm）形成状态（对照组：无生物膜/未培养组、1周培养组与4周培养组）以及时间梯度（1至48小时）产生差异。
研究发现，微纤维的摄入过程较为复杂，取决于培养时长与纤维类型的交互作用。
随着培养时长增加，合成微纤维的留存量显著高于“天然”微纤维。
本研究同时观察到，微纤维的摄入为即时发生，但后续会被排出并可在伪粪（pseudofaeces）中肉眼观测到。
本研究结果表明，微纤维在环境中停留以使其表面形成生物膜（biofilm）的时长，会对其摄入情况产生影响，因此呼吁未来开展更多相关研究。
© 作者 CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0