Impact of cigarette butts on microbial diversity and dissolved trace metals in coastal marine sediment
Abstract
20 21 Cigarette butts are the most common plastic form of litter found in the marine coast, threatening 22 the quality of the seawater and marine life. However, the impact of cigarette butts known to 23 contain toxic chemicals has been investigated to date in very few marine species. This study 24 aimed to evaluate the effects of cigarette filters (smoked or unsmoked) on the microbial 25 diversity inhabiting coastal sediments by high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes. 26 Both bacterial structure and metals distribution were impacted by cigarette filter addition in 27 laboratory sediment experiments, compared to control sediment incubations without filter. Both 28 smoked and unsmoked cigarette filters decreased pH and dissolved Cd, Mo and V 29 concentrations in marine sediment incubations, while they increased dissolved Fe, Mn, Zn 30 levels in the surrounding environment. Smoked filters dramatically decreased the relative 31 abundance of the phyla Bacteroidetes and Cyanobacteria, while the members of the phyla 32 Gammaproteobacteria, Firmicutes and Thermotogae were enriched by smoked filters in marine 33 sediments. Bacterial taxa associated with deep marine environments or hydrothermal seep fields 34 were selected by smoked cigarette filters. This study demonstrated for the first time the 35 microbial community changes and impacts from toxic cigarette filters in coastal marine 36 sediments.
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