Department of Environmental Health Science, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, South Korea.
Key Laboratory of Developmental Genes and Human Diseases in Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China.
Comp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol. 2022 Jan;251:109196. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpc.2021.109196. Epub 2021 Sep 30.
Microfibers, as globally emerging environmental pollutants, have received increasing attention over recent years. In ecosystems, natural textile microfibers are the predominant fibers. The inadvertent ingestion of microplastics by organisms in an ecosystem provides a channel for microfibers to enter biological webs. Based on existing research on microfibers, this review summarizes the potential adverse impacts of microfibers on organisms living in marine, freshwater, and soil ecosystems, and provides a brief introduction to the source of microfibers, as well as the related current status and future challenges. Although previous studies have recorded the adverse effects of microfibers on ecosystems, there remains a lack of evidence on the toxic effects of microfibers on the primary producer level in food chains (e.g., phytoplankton). This is essential, as the long-term effects of microfiber toxicity on different ecosystems ultimately affect human health. The analysis of microfiber toxicity paves the way for the field of environmental research and provides future perspectives for researchers in the fields of ecotoxicology and microplastics.
微纤维作为全球新兴的环境污染物，近年来受到越来越多的关注。在生态系统中，天然纺织微纤维是主要的纤维。生物体无意中摄入微塑料为微纤维进入生物网提供了一个通道。基于现有的微纤维研究，本文综述了微纤维对生活在海洋、淡水和土壤生态系统中的生物的潜在不利影响，并简要介绍了微纤维的来源，以及相关的现状和未来挑战。尽管先前的研究记录了微纤维对生态系统的不利影响，但在食物链（如浮游植物）中，关于微纤维对初级生产者的毒性影响的证据仍然缺乏。这是至关重要的，因为微纤维毒性对不同生态系统的长期影响最终会影响人类健康。微纤维毒性的分析为环境研究领域开辟了道路，并为生态毒理学和微塑料领域的研究人员提供了未来的视角。
