Key Laboratory of Prevention and Control for Aquatic Invasive Alien Species, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs & Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Immunology and Sustainable Aquaculture, Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510380, China.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Measurement and Emergency Test Technology, Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Center for Ambient Mass Spectrometry, Institute of Analysis, Guangdong Academy of Sciences (China National Analytical Center, Guangzhou), Guangzhou 510070, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 Feb 1;858(Pt 2):159939. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159939. Epub 2022 Nov 3.
Currently, although the cumulative effects of microplastics (MPs) and organic pollutants (OPs) in the environment and within organisms are being investigated, whether and how MPs participate in bioaccumulation of OPs based on a carrier effect is still unclear. In the present study, water and aquatic organisms were collected from the Pearl River. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and MPs were separated by solid phase extraction and were measured by gas chromatography mass spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, respectively. Higher PAH concentrations at the river outlet and higher MPs abundance in the inner river were observed, indicating a mismatched distribution between PAHs and MPs. No correlation between MP abundance and PAH concentration in fishes was detected, implying that MPs exerted limited influence on PAH concentrations. Interestingly, bioconcentration factors of one major low-ring PAH (phenanthrene) in fishes showed a significant correlation with MPs abundance, implying that although MPs did not affect the variation in PAH concentrations, they potentially participated in selective bioaccumulation of PAHs. Moreover, significant correlations between MPs abundance and PAHs in fishes with different feeding and living habits were found, indicating that MPs' participation in PAH bioaccumulation was dependent on fish biology and life history. Furthermore, the health risk posed by PAHs in fishes at the river outlet surpassed the line of potential high risk, while the ecological risk posed by MPs at the inner river was in the danger category, indicating the ecological risks posed by PAHs and MPs are uneven along the Pearl River. These findings deepen our understanding of the underlying mechanism of MPs participating in selective bioaccumulation of low-ring PAHs in fishes based on fish biology and point out the present risks posed by these two pollutants in the Pearl River and its estuary, which contribute to aquatic environmental protection and fishery production in this region.
目前，尽管环境中和生物体内的微塑料（MPs）和有机污染物（OPs）的累积效应正在被研究，但 MPs 是否以及如何基于载体效应参与 OPs 的生物累积仍不清楚。本研究采集了珠江的水和水生生物，通过固相萃取分离多环芳烃（PAHs）和 MPs，分别采用气相色谱-质谱法和傅里叶变换红外光谱法进行测量。在河流出口处发现了较高的 PAH 浓度，在内河中发现了较高的 MPs 丰度，表明 PAHs 和 MPs 的分布不匹配。在鱼类中，MPs 丰度与 PAH 浓度之间未检测到相关性，这表明 MPs 对 PAH 浓度的影响有限。有趣的是，鱼类中一种主要低环 PAH（菲）的生物浓缩因子与 MPs 丰度呈显著相关，这表明尽管 MPs 没有影响 PAH 浓度的变化，但它们可能参与了 PAHs 的选择性生物累积。此外，在具有不同摄食和生活习性的鱼类中，还发现 MPs 丰度与 PAHs 之间存在显著相关性，这表明 MPs 参与 PAH 生物累积取决于鱼类生物学和生活史。此外，在河流出口处鱼类中 PAHs 带来的健康风险超过了潜在高风险线，而在内河鱼类中 MPs 带来的生态风险则处于危险类别，这表明 PAHs 和 MPs 沿着珠江带来的生态风险是不均匀的。这些发现加深了我们对基于鱼类生物学 MPs 参与低环 PAHs 在鱼类中选择性生物累积的潜在机制的理解，并指出了这两种污染物在珠江及其河口地区目前带来的风险，有助于该地区的水环境保护和渔业生产。
