Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada.
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 Oct 1;893:164676. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164676. Epub 2023 Jun 8.
The potential ecological risks of nanoplastics (NPs) may be inaccurately assessed in some studies as they fail to consider the impact of environmental factors and their interactive effects. Here, the effects of six representative environmental factors (N, P, salinity, DOM (dissolved organic matter), pH and hardness) on NPs' toxicity and mechanism to microalgae are investigated based on the surface water quality data in Saskatchewan watershed, Canada. Our 10 sets of 2 factorial analysis reveal the significant factors and their interactive complexity towards 10 toxic endpoints from cellular and molecular levels. This is the first time to study the toxicity of NPs to microalgae under interacting environmental factors in high-latitude aquatic ecosystems of Canadian prairie. We find that microalgae become more resistant to NPs in N-rich or higher pH environments. Surprisingly, with the increase of N concentration or pH, the inhibitory effect of NPs on microalgae growth even became a promotion effect with the decreased inhibition rate from 10.5 % to -7.1 % or from 4.3 % to -0.9 %, respectively. Synchrotron-based Fourier transform infrared spectromicroscopy analysis reveals that NPs can induce alterations in the content and structure of lipids and proteins. DOM, NP, pH, NpH and pH*hardness have a statistically significant effect on NPs' toxicity to biomolecular. The toxicity levels of NPs across Saskatchewan watersheds are evaluated and we find that NPs could have the greatest inhibition on microalgae growth in Souris River. Our findings indicate that multiple environmental factors should be considered during the ecological risk assessment of emerging pollutants.
纳米塑料（NPs）的潜在生态风险在某些研究中可能评估不准确，因为这些研究未能考虑环境因素及其相互作用的影响。在这里，根据加拿大萨斯喀彻温省流域的地表水质量数据，研究了六种代表性环境因素（N、P、盐度、DOM（溶解有机物质）、pH 值和硬度）对 NPs 对微藻的毒性及其机制的影响。我们的 10 组 2 因子分析揭示了从细胞和分子水平的 10 个毒性终点的显著因素及其相互作用的复杂性。这是首次在加拿大草原高纬度水生生态系统中研究相互作用的环境因素对微藻的 NPs 毒性。我们发现，在富氮或较高 pH 值的环境中，微藻对 NPs 的抵抗力更强。令人惊讶的是，随着 N 浓度或 pH 值的增加，NPs 对微藻生长的抑制作用甚至变成了促进作用，抑制率从 10.5%降至-7.1%或从 4.3%降至-0.9%。基于同步加速器的傅里叶变换红外光谱显微镜分析表明，NPs 可以诱导脂质和蛋白质含量和结构的变化。DOM、NP、pH、NpH 和 pH*硬度对 NPs 对生物分子毒性有统计学显著影响。评估了萨斯喀彻温省流域范围内 NPs 的毒性水平，我们发现 NPs 对苏里斯河微藻的生长抑制最大。我们的研究结果表明，在评估新兴污染物的生态风险时，应考虑多种环境因素。
