Impact of tire abrasion on microbial communities, using plastic and zinc as proxies

Aquatic environments serve as a sink for anthropogenic discharges. A significant part of the discharge is tire wear, which is increasingly being released into the environment. Main components of tires are plastic and zinc, which therefore can be used as proxies for tire abrasion to study the effect on microbial life. In this study, we examine the effects of nanoplastic and ionic zinc on a freshwater microeukaryotic community using high-throughput sequencing of the 18S V9 region over a 14-day exposure period. Apart from a generally unchanged diversity upon exposure to zinc and nanoplastics, a change in community structure due to zinc is evident. Apparently, nanoplastic particles do not affect the community, but zinc exposure results in functional abundance shifts concerning the trophic mode. In contrast to lasting changes in taxa composition the functional community composition is initially strongly disbalanced after application of zinc but returns to the original state.