Kim Lia, Kim Sang A, Kim Tae Hee, Kim Juhea, An Youn-Joo
Department of Environmental Health Science, Konkuk University, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 05029, Republic of Korea.
Advanced Textile R&D Department, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Ansan, 426-171, Republic of Korea.
Aquat Toxicol. 2021 Jan 19;232:105748. doi: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2021.105748.
The increasing amount of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems is a significant environmental issue, with adverse effects on marine organisms including invertebrates and vertebrates. This study examined the effects of three types of microfibers on the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana as the test species. The brine shrimps were exposed to two commonly found synthetic microfibers (polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate) and one natural fiber (lyocell). The results suggest that the polyethylene terephthalate microfibers induced high mortality in A. franciscana, while the lyocell caused the least detrimental effects. Gut damage of microfiber-exposed A. franciscana was observed using the dye leakage in the gut layer, and the results show that gut damage occurred in all exposure groups of synthetic and natural microfibers. Overall, our findings indicate that gut damage induced by all three microfibers eventually led to adverse effects and mortality of A. franciscana, highlighting the harmful effects of microfibers, regardless of polymer type.
水生生态系统中微塑料数量的不断增加是一个重大的环境问题，对包括无脊椎动物和脊椎动物在内的海洋生物产生不利影响。本研究以卤虫作为受试物种，考察了三种类型微纤维对其的影响。将卤虫暴露于两种常见的合成微纤维（聚丙烯和聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯）和一种天然纤维（莱赛尔纤维）中。结果表明，聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯微纤维导致卤虫的高死亡率，而莱赛尔纤维造成的有害影响最小。通过肠道层染料泄漏观察暴露于微纤维的卤虫的肠道损伤，结果表明，合成和天然微纤维的所有暴露组均出现肠道损伤。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，所有三种微纤维引起的肠道损伤最终导致卤虫产生不利影响和死亡，突出了微纤维的有害影响，无论其聚合物类型如何。
