Department of Toxicology, IWW Water Center, Mülheim a.d. Ruhr, NRW, Germany.
Center for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, NRW, Germany.
PeerJ. 2023 Apr 11;11:e15192. doi: 10.7717/peerj.15192. eCollection 2023.
The broad use of plastics and the persistence of the material results in plastic residues being found practically everywhere in the environment. If plastics remain in the (aquatic) environment, natural weathering leads to degradation processes and compounds may leach from plastic into the environment. To investigate the impact of degradation process on toxicity of leachates, different types of UV irradiation (UV-C, UV-A/B) were used to simulate weathering processes of different plastic material containing virgin as well as recyclate material and biodegradable polymers. The leached substances were investigated toxicologically using bioassays. Cytotoxicity was determined by the MTT-assay, genotoxicity by using the p53-CALUX and Umu-assay, and estrogenic effects by the ER-CALUX. Genotoxic as well as estrogenic effects were detected in different samples depending on the material and the irradiation type. In four leachates of 12 plastic species estrogenic effects were detected above the recommended safety level of 0.4 ng 17-estradiol equivalents/L for surface water samples. In the p53-CALUX and in the Umu-assay leachates from three and two, respectively, of 12 plastic species were found to be genotoxic. The results of the chemical analysis show that plastic material releases a variety of known and unknown substances especially under UV radiation, leading to a complex mixture with potentially harmful effects. In order to investigate these aspects further and to be able to give recommendations for the use of additives in plastics, further effect-related investigations are advisable.
塑料的广泛使用和其持久性导致塑料残留物几乎在环境中的任何地方都被发现。如果塑料残留在（水生）环境中，自然风化会导致降解过程，并且化合物可能会从塑料中浸出到环境中。为了研究降解过程对浸出物毒性的影响，使用了不同类型的紫外线辐射（UV-C、UV-A/B）来模拟不同塑料材料的风化过程，这些塑料材料含有原始材料和回收材料以及可生物降解聚合物。使用生物测定法研究了浸出物质的毒性。通过 MTT 测定法测定细胞毒性，通过 p53-CALUX 和 Umu 测定法测定遗传毒性，通过 ER-CALUX 测定法测定雌激素效应。根据材料和辐射类型，不同样品中检测到遗传毒性和雌激素效应。在 12 种塑料物种的 12 种浸出物中，有 4 种检测到雌激素效应超过了地表水样品推荐的安全水平 0.4ng 17-雌二醇当量/L。在 p53-CALUX 和 Umu 测定法中，分别有 3 种和 2 种 12 种塑料物种的浸出物被发现具有遗传毒性。化学分析的结果表明，塑料材料释放出各种已知和未知的物质，特别是在紫外线辐射下，导致潜在有害影响的复杂混合物。为了进一步研究这些方面，并能够为塑料中添加剂的使用提出建议，建议进行进一步的相关效果调查。
