Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter Cornwall Campus, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, United Kingdom.
Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms (BEOM), Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121, Naples, Italy.
Environ Pollut. 2021 Jan 15;269:115744. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115744. Epub 2020 Oct 3.
Microplastic pollution has become ubiquitous, affecting a wide variety of biota. Although microplastics are known to alter the development of a range of marine invertebrates, no studies provide a detailed morphological characterisation of the developmental defects. Likewise, the developmental toxicity of chemicals leached from plastic particles is understudied. The consequences of these developmental effects are likely underestimated, and the effects on ecosystems are unknown. Using the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus as a model, we studied the effects of leachates of three forms of plastic pellet: new industrial pre-production plastic nurdles, beached pre-production nurdles, and floating filters, known as biobeads, also retrieved from the environment. Our chemical analyses show that leachates from beached pellets (biobead and nurdle pellets) and highly plasticised industrial pellets (PVC) contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls, which are known to be detrimental to development and other life stages of animals. We also demonstrate that these microplastic leachates elicit severe, consistent and treatment-specific developmental abnormalities in P. lividus at embryonic and larval stages. Those embryos exposed to virgin polyethylene leachates with no additives nor environmental contaminants developed normally, suggesting that the abnormalities observed are the result of exposure to either environmentally adsorbed contaminants or pre-existing industrial additives within the polymer matrix. In the light of the chemical contents of the leachates and other characteristics of the plastic particles used, we discuss the phenotypes observed during our study, which include abnormal gastrulation, impaired skeletogenesis, abnormal neurogenesis, redistribution of pigmented cells and embryo radialisation.
微塑料污染已无处不在，影响着广泛的生物群。虽然已知微塑料会改变一系列海洋无脊椎动物的发育，但没有研究对发育缺陷进行详细的形态特征描述。同样，从塑料颗粒浸出的化学物质的发育毒性也研究不足。这些发育效应的后果可能被低估了，其对生态系统的影响尚不清楚。本研究以海胆 Paracentrotus lividus 为模型，研究了三种塑料颗粒浸出液的影响：新型工业预生产塑料珠粒、海滩预生产珠粒和从环境中回收的漂浮过滤器，也称为生物珠。我们的化学分析表明，海滩颗粒（生物珠和珠粒）和高增塑工业颗粒（聚氯乙烯）的浸出物含有多环芳烃和多氯联苯，已知这些物质对动物的发育和其他生命阶段有害。我们还证明，这些微塑料浸出物在胚胎和幼虫阶段引起了强烈、一致和特定于处理的 Paracentrotus lividus 发育异常。那些暴露于无添加剂和环境污染物的原始聚乙烯浸出液中的胚胎正常发育，这表明观察到的异常是由于暴露于环境吸附的污染物或聚合物基质中存在的现有工业添加剂。鉴于浸出物的化学含量和所用塑料颗粒的其他特性，我们讨论了在研究过程中观察到的表型，包括异常原肠胚形成、骨骼生成受损、神经发生异常、色素细胞重新分布和胚胎辐射状。
