Corami Fabiana, Rosso Beatrice, Iannilli Valentina, Ciadamidaro Simone, Bravo Barbara, Barbante Carlo
Institute of Polar Sciences, CNR-ISP, Campus Scientifico-Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172 Venice, Italy.
Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30172 Venice, Italy.
Toxics. 2022 Jul 10;10(7):383. doi: 10.3390/toxics10070383.
This study is the first to investigate the ingestion of microplastics (MPs), plasticizers, additives, and particles of micro-litter < 100 μm by larvae of Simuliidae (Diptera) in rivers. Blackflies belong to a small cosmopolitan insect family whose larvae are present alongside river courses, often with a torrential regime, up to their mouths. Specimens of two species of blackfly larvae, Simulium equinum and Simulium ornatum, were collected in two rivers in Central Italy, the Mignone and the Treja. Small microplastics (SMPs, <100 μm), plasticizers, additives, and other micro-litter components, e.g., natural and non-plastic synthetic fibers (APFs) ingested by blackfly larvae were, for the first time, quantified and concurrently identified via MicroFTIR. The pretreatment allowed for simultaneous extraction of the ingested SMPs and APFs. Strong acids or strong oxidizing reagents and the application of temperatures well above the glass transition temperature of polyamide 6 and 6.6 (55−60 °C) were not employed to avoid further denaturation/degradation of polymers and underestimating the quantification. Reagent and procedural blanks did not show any SMPs or APFs. The method’s yield was >90%. Differences in the abundances of the SMPs and APFs ingested by the two species under exam were statistically significant. Additives and plasticizers can be specific to a particular polymer; thus, these compounds can be proxies for the presence of plastic polymers in the environment.
本研究首次调查了河流中蚋科（双翅目）幼虫对微塑料（MPs）、增塑剂、添加剂以及小于100μm的微垃圾颗粒的摄取情况。蚋属于一个小型的世界性昆虫家族，其幼虫分布在河道沿线，通常在水流湍急的区域，直至河口。在意大利中部的两条河流——米尼奥内河和特雷亚河中，采集了两种蚋幼虫的样本，即马蚋和饰蚋。首次通过显微傅里叶变换红外光谱仪（MicroFTIR）对蚋幼虫摄取的小型微塑料（SMPs，<100μm）、增塑剂、添加剂以及其他微垃圾成分，如天然和非塑料合成纤维（APFs）进行了定量分析，并同时进行了鉴定。预处理使得能够同时提取摄取的SMPs和APFs。未使用强酸或强氧化剂，也未将温度升高至远高于聚酰胺6和6.6的玻璃化转变温度（55−60°C），以避免聚合物进一步变性/降解以及低估定量结果。试剂空白和程序空白均未显示任何SMPs或APFs。该方法的回收率>90%。所研究的两种蚋摄取的SMPs和APFs丰度差异具有统计学意义。添加剂和增塑剂可能特定于某种聚合物；因此，这些化合物可以作为环境中塑料聚合物存在的指标。
