National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean (ISMed-CNR), Detached Unit of Palermo, Via Filippo Parlatore 95, 90145, Palermo, Italy; University of Palermo, Department of Earth and Marine Sciences (DiSTEM), Via Archirafi 22, 90123, Palermo (PA), Italy.
CNR-IPCB, Via P. Gaifami 18, 95126, Catania, Italy.
Chemosphere. 2022 Dec;309(Pt 1):136720. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136720. Epub 2022 Oct 4.
Microplastics (MPs) in the marine environment undergo complex weathering factors that can affect their ability to interact with different coexisting environmental contaminants (termed here co-contaminants). In this study, the influence of artificially aging using UV on the sorption of a complex mixture of co-contaminants onto MPs was investigated in order to provide meaningful hypotheses on their individual and combined toxicities on sea urchin embryos. A mixture of artificially aged MPs (PS particles and PA microfibers) combined with 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47), or Cd or Cu, both alone and in a mix, were used to expose embryos of Paracentrotus lividus. The effects of polymer aging on co-contaminants bioavailability were assessed by measuring changes in the transcriptional profile of genes involved in oxidative-stress response and skeletogenic and endo-mesodermal specification. Changes in the sorption ability of MPs to co-contaminants in the aqueous phase highlighted that aging did not affect the sorption of BDE-47 and Cd on MPs, although a certain influence on Cu sorption was found. Despite no morphological effects in embryos at the gastrula stage after MPs/contaminants combinatorial exposure emerged, the greatest influence of the aging process was mainly found for combined exposures which included BDE-47. Finally, the exposure to multiple contaminants generated transcriptional profiles poorly related to those activated by single contaminant, at times suggesting a mixture-dependent different aging influence. These results open new scenarios on the controversial role of vector of co-contaminants for MPs, especially when complex and different types of mixtures were considered.
海洋环境中的微塑料（MPs）经历复杂的风化因素，这些因素会影响它们与不同共存环境污染物（此处称为共污染物）相互作用的能力。在这项研究中，研究了使用紫外线人工老化对共污染物复杂混合物在 MPs 上吸附的影响，以便对它们对海胆胚胎的单独和联合毒性提供有意义的假设。人工老化 MPs（PS 颗粒和 PA 微纤维）与 2,2',4,4'-四溴二苯醚（BDE-47）、Cd 或 Cu 的混合物，单独和混合使用，暴露于 Paracentrotus lividus 的胚胎中。通过测量参与氧化应激反应、骨骼生成和内胚层中胚层特化的基因转录谱的变化，评估聚合物老化对共污染物生物利用度的影响。 MPs 对水相中共污染物吸附能力的变化表明，老化不会影响 BDE-47 和 Cd 在 MPs 上的吸附，尽管发现对 Cu 吸附有一定影响。尽管在 MPs/污染物组合暴露后处于原肠胚阶段的胚胎中没有出现形态效应，但老化过程的最大影响主要出现在包括 BDE-47 的组合暴露中。最后，暴露于多种污染物产生的转录谱与单一污染物激活的转录谱相关性较差，有时表明混合物依赖性的不同老化影响。这些结果为 MPs 作为共污染物载体的有争议作用开辟了新的情景，尤其是在考虑复杂和不同类型混合物时。
