Key Laboratory for Ecological Environment in Coastal Areas, State Oceanic Administration, National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, No. 42 Linghe Street, Dalian, 116023, China; Marine Debris and Microplastic Research Center, Dalian, 116023, China.
Key Laboratory for Ecological Environment in Coastal Areas, State Oceanic Administration, National Marine Environmental Monitoring Center, No. 42 Linghe Street, Dalian, 116023, China; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, No. 1 Linghai Road, Dalian, 116026, China.
Environ Pollut. 2019 Jan;244:715-722. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.10.024. Epub 2018 Oct 6.
Microplastics are a contaminant of emerging concern which enter the marine environment from a variety of sources. The ingestion and toxic effects of microplastics on marine life, especially for filter feeders, are a cause of concern in view of their ubiquitous nature and their similar size as food sources. To assess the toxic effects of microspheres ingested by brine shrimp larvae, we exposed Artemia parthenogenetica to 10 μm polystyrene microspheres at different concentrations. These concentrations were approximate to the extrapolated marine aquatic environmentally relevant concentrations. The lowest polystyrene concentrations at which ingestion was visualized in A. parthenogenetica were 12 ± 0.57 particles/mL (6.7 ± 0.32 μg/L) and 1.1 ± 0.16 particles/mL (0.61 ± 0.088 μg/L), respectively. There were no significant impacts on the survival, growth or development in A. parthenogenetica occurring over the 14-d exposure across a range of polystyrene nominal concentrations (1-1000 particles/mL or 0.55-550 μg/L). However, abnormal ultrastructures of intestinal epithelial cells were observed upon exposure to polystyrene microspheres, including fewer and disordered microvilli, an increased number of mitochondrion and the appearance of autophagosome. These phenomena could affect nutrition absorption and energy metabolism. Although no major acute or chronic toxicity effects on A. parthenogenetica were observed over 24-h or 14-d exposures, this study provides evidence that the ingestion of polystyrene microplastics at extrapolated environmentally relevant concentrations can be visualized through a microscope to be causing a series of responses in intestinal epithelial cells.
微塑料是一种新兴的污染物，它们通过多种来源进入海洋环境。鉴于其普遍存在的性质及其与食物来源相似的大小，微塑料对海洋生物，特别是滤食性生物的摄入和毒性影响令人担忧。为了评估卤虫幼虫摄入微球体的毒性效应，我们将丰年虾暴露于不同浓度的 10μm 聚苯乙烯微球体中。这些浓度与推断的海洋水生环境相关浓度相近。丰年虾中可观察到摄入的最低聚苯乙烯浓度分别为 12±0.57 个/mL（6.7±0.32μg/L）和 1.1±0.16 个/mL（0.61±0.088μg/L）。在 1-1000 个/mL 或 0.55-550μg/L 的聚苯乙烯名义浓度范围内，14 天暴露期内，丰年虾的存活率、生长或发育均未受到显著影响。然而，暴露于聚苯乙烯微球后，观察到肠道上皮细胞的超微结构异常，包括微绒毛减少且排列紊乱、线粒体数量增加以及自噬体的出现。这些现象可能会影响营养吸收和能量代谢。尽管在 24 小时或 14 天暴露期间，未观察到丰年虾出现急性或慢性毒性效应，但本研究提供了证据，表明在推断的环境相关浓度下摄入聚苯乙烯微塑料可以通过显微镜观察到，从而导致肠道上皮细胞发生一系列反应。
