Experimental Data on Contaminant Effects in a Marine Alga Leachate Bioassay

A 2026 study by Hoi Shing Lo presents experimental outcomes from a bioassay investigating the effects of polyethylene film leachates on the red macroalga Ceramium tenuicorne. The dataset, shared on figshare, documents the unexpected detection of the flame retardant TDCPP in leachates, traced to laboratory surface contamination. It highlights how such contamination can confound biological responses like growth and antioxidant activity in ecotoxicological tests.

Use Cases

• Analyzing confounding effects of laboratory-derived contaminants based on the detection of TDCPP in leachates
• Studying biomarker responses in marine algae based on growth and antioxidant activity measurements mentioned in the description
• Investigating contamination pathways in experimental setups based on surface swab analyses of benches and equipment
• Assessing the impact of material handling on experimental integrity based on comparisons of virgin and aged polyethylene films

Strengths

• Dataset includes a detailed methodological narrative explaining the source of unexpected contamination.
• The study provides a concrete case example of rigorous chemical verification for both materials and the experimental environment.
• File is shared under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license, facilitating reuse.

Limitations

• The dataset is a 166.3 KB DOCX file, indicating a very limited scope, likely a supplementary document rather than primary data.
• Column-level documentation and sample data are unavailable, requiring manual inspection after download to understand structure.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for quantitative analysis.

Provenance

Source

Hoi Shing Lo, shared via figshare.

Collection Method

Laboratory bioassay involving leachates from virgin and thermally aged polyethylene films, with subsequent chemical analysis of laboratory surfaces.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-21 05:31:01; freshness should be verified.