{"paper_id":"3c85b7ea-429b-4495-a4f2-bcc7175fa877","body_text":"Investigating the ecotoxicological effects of dimethyl phthalate (DMP) and polyethylene (PE) on the floating aquatic plant, Lemna minor. | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Investigating the ecotoxicological effects of dimethyl phthalate (DMP) and polyethylene (PE) on the floating aquatic plant, Lemna minor . Lucy-Marie Reid, Dr. Stephanie Sargeant, Dr. Freya Radford This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8259131/v2 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Freshwater ecosystems are increasingly threatened by microplastics and their associated leachates; as significant producers in the freshwater environment, aquatic plants are at the greatest risk of emerging contaminants, threatening biodiversity, supportive and regulative ecosystem services. Given this, the aim of the present study was to identify and evaluate the dose-response effects of both dimethyl phthalate and polyethylene (30µm fragments), on the frond number, surface area, dry weight and chlorophyll content of Lemna minor . The results of this study indicated that while polyethylene did not consistently produce significant dose-response trends across the measured parameters, it did exhibit significant effects with respect to chlorophyll content (LOEC = 10 mg/L). Exposure to DMP caused significant (p < 0.001) effects on Lemna minor frond number and dry weight (LOEC = 10 mg/L). The combined exposure of DMP and PE revealed evidence of an interaction between the two contaminants, with notable effects on frond number and dry weights. Significant effects were also observed on chlorophyll content (LOEC = 50 mg/L of DMP when combined with both 10 and 100 mg/L of PE), supporting the hypothesis that a combination of the two amplify phytotoxicity. The findings of this study highlight the potential for microplastics and their associated leachates to disrupt plant growth, underlining the need for improved ecotoxicity assessments. The outcomes of this work contribute to a growing wealth of literature which aim to inform ecological risk assessments, supplement freshwater management plans and improve the health of our freshwater ecosystems. Marine and Freshwater Ecology Freshwater Ecotoxicity Microplastics Phthalates Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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minor\\u003c/strong\\u003e\\u003c/em\\u003e\\u003cstrong\\u003e.\\u003c/strong\\u003e\\u003c/p\\u003e\",\"fulltext\":[],\"fulltextSource\":\"\",\"fullText\":\"\",\"funders\":[],\"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow\":false,\"hasManuscriptDocX\":false,\"hasOptedInToPreprint\":true,\"hasPassedJournalQc\":\"\",\"hasAnyPriority\":true,\"hideJournal\":true,\"highlight\":\"\",\"institution\":\"\",\"isAcceptedByJournal\":false,\"isAuthorSuppliedPdf\":true,\"isDeskRejected\":\"\",\"isHiddenFromSearch\":false,\"isInQc\":false,\"isInWorkflow\":true,\"isPdf\":true,\"isPdfUpToDate\":true,\"isWithdrawnOrRetracted\":false,\"journal\":{\"display\":true,\"email\":\"info@researchsquare.com\",\"identity\":\"researchsquare\",\"isNatureJournal\":false,\"hasQc\":true,\"allowDirectSubmit\":true,\"externalIdentity\":\"\",\"sideBox\":\"\",\"snPcode\":\"\",\"submissionUrl\":\"/submission\",\"title\":\"Research 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Given this, the aim of the present study was to identify and evaluate the dose-response effects of both dimethyl phthalate and polyethylene (30µm fragments), on the frond number, surface area, dry weight and chlorophyll content of \\u003cem\\u003eLemna minor\\u003c/em\\u003e.\\u003c/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eThe results of this study indicated that while polyethylene did not consistently produce significant dose-response trends across the measured parameters, it did exhibit significant effects with respect to chlorophyll content (LOEC = 10 mg/L). Exposure to DMP caused significant (p \\u0026lt; 0.001) effects on \\u003cem\\u003eLemna\\u003c/em\\u003e \\u003cem\\u003eminor\\u003c/em\\u003e frond number and dry weight (LOEC = 10 mg/L). The combined exposure of DMP and PE revealed evidence of an interaction between the two contaminants, with notable effects on frond number and dry weights. Significant effects were also observed on chlorophyll content (LOEC = 50 mg/L of DMP when combined with both 10 and 100 mg/L of PE), supporting the hypothesis that a combination of the two amplify phytotoxicity.\\u003c/p\\u003e\\n\\u003cp\\u003eThe findings of this study highlight the potential for microplastics and their associated leachates to disrupt plant growth, underlining the need for improved ecotoxicity assessments. The outcomes of this work contribute to a growing wealth of literature which aim to inform ecological risk assessments, supplement freshwater management plans and improve the health of our freshwater ecosystems.\\u003c/p\\u003e\",\"manuscriptTitle\":\"Investigating the ecotoxicological effects of dimethyl phthalate (DMP) and polyethylene (PE) on the floating aquatic plant, Lemna minor.\",\"msid\":\"\",\"msnumber\":\"\",\"nonDraftVersions\":[{\"code\":2,\"date\":\"2025-12-05 21:39:59\",\"doi\":\"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8259131/v2\",\"editorialEvents\":[{\"type\":\"communityComments\",\"content\":0}],\"status\":\"published\",\"journal\":{\"display\":true,\"email\":\"info@researchsquare.com\",\"identity\":\"researchsquare\",\"isNatureJournal\":false,\"hasQc\":true,\"allowDirectSubmit\":true,\"externalIdentity\":\"\",\"sideBox\":\"\",\"snPcode\":\"\",\"submissionUrl\":\"/submission\",\"title\":\"Research Square\",\"twitterHandle\":\"researchsquare\",\"acdcEnabled\":true,\"dfaEnabled\":false,\"editorialSystem\":\"\",\"reportingPortfolio\":\"\",\"inReviewEnabled\":false,\"inReviewRevisionsEnabled\":true}},{\"code\":1,\"date\":\"2025-12-03 02:54:59\",\"doi\":\"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8259131/v1\",\"editorialEvents\":[{\"type\":\"communityComments\",\"content\":0}],\"status\":\"published\",\"journal\":{\"display\":true,\"email\":\"info@researchsquare.com\",\"identity\":\"researchsquare\",\"isNatureJournal\":false,\"hasQc\":true,\"allowDirectSubmit\":true,\"externalIdentity\":\"\",\"sideBox\":\"\",\"snPcode\":\"\",\"submissionUrl\":\"/submission\",\"title\":\"Research Square\",\"twitterHandle\":\"researchsquare\",\"acdcEnabled\":true,\"dfaEnabled\":false,\"editorialSystem\":\"\",\"reportingPortfolio\":\"\",\"inReviewEnabled\":false,\"inReviewRevisionsEnabled\":true}}],\"origin\":\"\",\"ownerIdentity\":\"5f2c1727-0abb-4c81-b071-8d859027d32f\",\"owner\":[],\"postedDate\":\"December 5th, 2025\",\"published\":true,\"recentEditorialEvents\":[],\"rejectedJournal\":[],\"revision\":\"\",\"amendment\":\"\",\"status\":\"posted\",\"subjectAreas\":[{\"id\":59182028,\"name\":\"Marine and Freshwater Ecology\"}],\"tags\":[],\"updatedAt\":\"2025-12-03T02:55:00+00:00\",\"versionOfRecord\":[],\"versionCreatedAt\":\"2025-12-05 21:39:59\",\"video\":\"\",\"vorDoi\":\"\",\"vorDoiUrl\":\"\",\"workflowStages\":[]},\"version\":\"v2\",\"identity\":\"rs-8259131\",\"journalConfig\":\"researchsquare\"},\"__N_SSP\":true},\"page\":\"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]\",\"query\":{\"redirect\":\"/article/rs-8259131\",\"identity\":\"rs-8259131\",\"version\":[\"v2\"]},\"buildId\":\"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7\",\"isFallback\":false,\"isExperimentalCompile\":false,\"dynamicIds\":[84888],\"gssp\":true,\"scriptLoader\":[]}","source_license":"CC-BY-4.0","license_restricted":false}