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Scientific Literacy Research Paper

Karina Miseirvitch

BIOL 293 Cell Biology

Professor Wilkins

Old Dominion University

12-07-2022
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Scientific Literacy Research Paper

Diatoms are important as primary producers because they produce about twenty to forty

percent of the oxygen that we breathe. They can do this through photosynthesis by using the

energy from the sun to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars while also creating

byproducts like oxygen and organic carbon. As of today, researchers are using this information

to examine the role of diatoms in the reduction of greenhouse gasses (Johnson, et al., 2015).

Diatoms are known for their importance of being primary producers; therefore, their role in the

ecosystem is essential as well. Diatoms are a key source of carbon for multiple trophic webs for a

large range of animal populations. In most cases diatoms can be used as food for deep-sea

organisms; this is because diatoms have a heavier density which causes them to sink to the

deeper zones of the ocean. Then when diatoms are eaten they can either be remineralized to

carbon dioxide which can fuel the oceans carbon pumps, or can be converted to carbonates

which is then absorbed in deep sediments (Serôdio and Lavaud, 2020). One well known type of

diatom is Phaeodactylum tricornutum which is known for their ability to exist in different

morphotypes and for having the capability to change their cell shape through environmental

conditions (Wikipedia, 2022). These diatoms' have the ability to survive in harsh conditions,

have different pore structures, and consist of defined cell walls which allows them to have some

relevance in biotechnology. Diatoms have possibly become an alternative raw material including

energy sources, pharmaceutical, and nanotechnology that can easily lead to a more sustainable

environment by creating a reduction of carbon emissions (Sharma, et al., 2021).

In 2020 COVID-19 took over the globe which caused the need for everyone to use masks

to protect themselves from the virus. The most common masks used by people are made of

plastic and like anything made of plastic or trash when people are done with it, they do not
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dispose of it properly. Due to most people disposing of their masks improperly, significant

threats have risen within marine wildlife from the masks washing into any nearby bodies of

water. Furthermore, these masks have negatively contributed to the pollution in the marine

ecosystem. The most common threats that personal protective equipment (PPE) have on wildlife

are ingestion, entanglement, and suffocation (Gunasekaran, Mghili and Saravanakumar, 2020).

The pollution issues with PPEs through masks in marine wildlife is how harmful they can be

when releasing the microplastics and chemical additives they contain. This issue can cause

unwanted changes in microalgae and indirectly affect other marine organisms.

Researchers continue to show/demonstrate how not only whole pieces but also

fragmented pieces of a face mask can contain polypropylene microfibers and its added materials

that can be insanely toxic to any exposed marine wildlife. The objective of the research is to

study the degradation of the mask in marine water and how the products in the mask are toxic to

Phaeodactylum tricornutum (Sendra, et al., 2022). Phaeodactylum tricornutum is a great model

organism for this cytotoxicity study because of the known fact that the species is standard in

toxicology reports.

Diatoms are important as primary producers because they produce about twenty to forty

percent of the oxygen that we breathe. They can do this through photosynthesis by using the

energy from the sun to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars while also creating

byproducts like oxygen and organic carbon. As of today, researchers are using this information

to examine the role of diatoms in the reduction of greenhouse gasses (Johnson, et al., 2015).

Diatoms are known for their importance of being primary producers; therefore, their role in the

ecosystem is essential as well. Diatoms are a key source of carbon for multiple trophic webs for a

large range of animal populations. In most cases diatoms can be used as food for deep-sea
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organisms; this is because diatoms have a heavier density which causes them to sink to the

deeper zones of the ocean. Then when diatoms are eaten they can either be remineralized to

carbon dioxide which can fuel the oceans carbon pumps, or can be converted to carbonates

which is then absorbed in deep sediments (Serôdio and Lavaud, 2020). One well known type of

diatom is Phaeodactylum tricornutum which is known for their ability to exist in different

morphotypes and for having the capability to change their cell shape through environmental

conditions (Wikipedia, 2022). These diatoms' have the ability to survive in harsh conditions,

have different pore structures, and consist of defined cell walls which allows them to have some

relevance in biotechnology. Diatoms have possibly become an alternative raw material including

energy sources, pharmaceutical, and nanotechnology that can easily lead to a more sustainable

environment by creating a reduction of carbon emissions (Sharma, et al., 2021).

In 2020 COVID-19 took over the globe which caused the need for everyone to use masks

to protect themselves from the virus. The most common masks used by people are made of

plastic and like anything made of plastic or trash when people are done with it, they do not

dispose of it properly. Due to most people disposing of their masks improperly, significant

threats have risen within marine wildlife from the masks washing into any nearby bodies of

water. Furthermore, these masks have negatively contributed to the pollution in the marine

ecosystem. The most common threats that personal protective equipment (PPE) have on wildlife

are ingestion, entanglement, and suffocation (Gunasekaran, Mghili and Saravanakumar, 2020).

The pollution issues with PPEs through masks in marine wildlife is how harmful they can be

when releasing the microplastics and chemical additives they contain. This issue can cause

unwanted changes in microalgae and indirectly affect other marine organisms.

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Researchers continue to show/demonstrate how not only whole pieces but also

fragmented pieces of a face mask can contain polypropylene microfibers and its added materials

that can be insanely toxic to any exposed marine wildlife. The objective of the research is to

study the degradation of the mask in marine water and how the products in the mask are toxic to

Phaeodactylum tricornutum (Sendra, et al., 2022). Phaeodactylum tricornutum is a great model

organism for this cytotoxicity study because of the known fact that the species is standard in

toxicology reports.

In the study conducted by Sendra et al., (2022) the experimental fragmentation and

degradation of face masks were simulated by two stages of face-mask disintegration; whole

surgical mask submerged in marine water, and fragments of a face mask floating and/or

submerged in marine water. The fasteners of these face masks were not considered, and the

surface marine water used was collected by boat on the offshore area of Cadiz Bay, Spain and

was filtered with two consecutive filters before the experiments. Fragmentation occurred with

ethanol-cleaned scissors and each mask was cut into approximately two millimeter pieces. There

were three replicates for each condition; control (marine water), single whole mask, and face

mask fragments. A face mask (whole or fragmented) was placed in an Erlenmeyer flask that was

acid-cleaned and contained two liters of filtered marine water. The whole face masks were

dunked into the flask with a glass rod and were in agitation at fifty rpm and in a photoperiod for

twelve hours of light and dark at room temperature. There were a total of ten water samples for

each treatment, and they were recorded over a month. Seven samples were collected over the

first week and then the last three were collected once a week. For inorganic analysis thirty mL

was collected from the sample and for the analysis of fibers release fifteen mL was collected. In

this experiment they used microalgae toxicological assay. Through the use of ICMAN Marine
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Microalgae Culture Collection (IMMCC) the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum was

obtained. A flow cytometer was also used, and all responses were collected after twenty-four,

forty-eight, and seventy-two hours. Photosystem II analysis was used after the samples were in

complete darkness for fifteen minutes before analysis

There were a lot of major findings from this research, some of which include; elements

like Fe, Cu, and Ba had a high concentration in the blue layer of the face mask while Zn was

only detected in the white layer. Based on these elements, the water from whole and fragmented

masks were analyzed after a month of constant shaking in natural seawater, and they found that

there was no significant difference between the control and treatment groups. There was a

significant difference with the elements Mn, Zn, and Ni between the water from the control

groups and the fragmented mask treatment group. Over the span of four weeks the kinetic

released from the metals Mn, Zn, and Ni were studied, and the metals released were measured in

whole and fragmented mask water and then compared to the control group. They found that the

three metals were only released in fragmented masks. They also found that the control did not

show any peaks in the FTIR spectrum but for both treatment groups had a presence of alcohols.

It was also found that the amount of fibers is significantly higher in the water for the treatment

groups with fragments of the face mask. Figure 1(Sendra et al., 2022) shows the cell density of

the population Phaeodactylum tricornutum exposed to whole and fragmented face mask water

over twenty-four, forty-eight, and seventy-two hours. There was no significant decrease in cell

density of the microalgae exposed to whole face mask water, but there was a dose-dependent

response when water was less diluted from the microalgae population exposed to the water with

fragments of a face mask. There was an observed significant decrease in cell density after

twenty-four and forty-eight hours in fragmented mask water exposure. Although, after seventy-
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two hours there was not a significant decrease in cell density to the microalgae in the fragmented

mask water which indicates an ability of the population to be able to recover after chronic

exposure to the water with the fragment mask pieces.

Sendra et al., (2022) concludes that the unwanted effects in the microalgae can impact the

food web because our knowledge about the disintegration and degradation process of face masks

is limited because it is a new source of microfibers that are exposed to environments. There is
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little information about the lifecycle of face masks and this study revealed the effects of the

metal compounds released into the water from fragmented and whole face masks. Therefore, it is

essential to repeat the assays used in this study on other aquatic organisms as well as studying

the effects of other common face masks used to further determine the potential harm face masks

can cause on marine organisms (Sullivan et al., 2021).

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References

Gunasekaran, K., Mghili, B., Saravanakumar, A., (2022). Personal protective equipment (PPE)

pollution driven by the COVID-19 pandemic in coastal environment, Southeast Coast of

India. Marine pollution bulletin,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9114149/.

Johnson, K., (2015). The Air We Breathe, and the Water We Drink: Why Diatoms are So

Important. Phinizy center for water sciences, https://phinizycenter.org/the-air-we-breathe-

and-the-water-we-drink-why-diatoms-are-so-important/.

Sendra, M., Rodrigues-Romero, A., Yeste, P., Blasco, J., Tovar-Sanchez, A., (2022). Products

released from surgical face masks can provoke cytotoxicity in the marine diatom

Phaeodactylum tricornutum. ScienceDirect,

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722037081?via%3Dihub.

Serôdio, J., Lavaud, J., (2020). Diatoms and Their Ecological Importance. HAL Open Science,

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03113866/document.

Sharma, N., Simon, D., Diaz-Garza, A., Fantino, E., Messaabi, A., Meddeb-Mouelhi, A.,

Germain, H., Desgagné-Penix, I., (2021). Diatoms Biotechnology: Various Industrial

Applications for a Greener Tomorrow. Frontiers,

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.636613/full.

Sullivan, G., Delgado-Gallardo, J., Watson, T., Sarp, S., (2021). An investigation into the

leaching of micro and nano particles and chemical pollutants from disposable face masks

- linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. ScienceDirect,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.117033.
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Wikipedia contributors. (2022). Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Wikipedia,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaeodactylum_tricornutum.