Endocrine disruption from plastic pollution and warming interact to increase the energetic cost of growth in a fish

Energetic cost of growth determines how much food-derived energy is needed
to produce a given amount of new biomass, and thereby influences energy
transduction between trophic levels. Growth and development are regulated
by hormones and are therefore sensitive to changes in temperature and
environmental endocrine disruption. Here we show that the endocrine
disruptor bisphenol A at an environmentally relevant concentration (BPA;
10 µg l⁻¹) decreased fish (Danio rerio) size at 30 oC water temperature.
Under the same conditions, it significantly increased metabolic rates and
the energetic cost of growth across development. In contrast, BPA
decreased cost of growth at cooler temperatures (24 °C). BPA-mediated
changes in cost of growth were not associated with mitochondrial
efficiency (P/O ratios [i.e., ADP used/oxygen consumed] and respiratory
control ratios) although BPA did increase mitochondrial proton leak. In
females, BPA decreased age at maturity at 24 oC but increased it at 30 oC,
and it decreased the gonadosomatic index suggesting reduced investment
into reproduction. Our data reveal a potentially serious emerging problem:
increasing water temperatures resulting from climate warming together with
endocrine disruption from plastic pollution can impact animal growth
efficiency, and hence the dynamics and resilience of animal populations
and the services these provide.