Kim Lia, Kim Haemi, Kim Tae Hee, An Youn-Joo
Department of Environmental Health Science, Konkuk University, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05029, Republic of Korea.
Advanced Textile R&D Department, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Ansan 426-171, Republic of Korea.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2025 Feb;211:117391. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.117391. Epub 2024 Dec 8.
A large amount of microplastics (MPs) in the marine environment have gradually sunk into the benthic area, and crawling organisms can be easily exposed to the MPs. This study aimed to compare the size- and shape-dependent effects of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) on Artemia franciscana, which crawls on the bottom during the juvenile stage. In this study, the juvenile stage A. franciscana was exposed to three sized fragments (<20 μm, 45-75 μm, and >125 μm) and two fibers (200 μm and 3 mm length) of PET MPs contaminated seawater in a sand-layered system for 48 h. Acute effects on survival, growth rate, gut damage, apoptosis, and swimming activity were observed. The results showed that small edible-sized fragments (< 75 μm) consumed by A. franciscana caused gut damage and inhibited their movement, whereas large-sized fragments (> 125 μm) and fibers (200-3000 μm) induced apoptosis through physical stress. The uptake impacts of small PET MPs and physical effects of fibril shaped PET MPs on A. franciscana suggest that morphology, including size and shape, of PET MPs can be a major factor determining their ecotoxicity to marine benthic organisms.
海洋环境中的大量微塑料（MPs）已逐渐沉入底栖区域，爬行生物很容易接触到这些微塑料。本研究旨在比较聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯（PET）对卤虫的大小和形状依赖性影响，卤虫在幼体阶段会在水底爬行。在本研究中，将幼体阶段的卤虫置于一个有沙层的系统中，使其暴露于受PET微塑料污染的海水中48小时，这些微塑料有三种尺寸的碎片（<20μm、45 - 75μm和>125μm）以及两种纤维（长度为200μm和3mm）。观察了对其生存、生长速率、肠道损伤、细胞凋亡和游动活性的急性影响。结果表明，卤虫摄食的小尺寸可食用碎片（<75μm）会导致肠道损伤并抑制其活动，而大尺寸碎片（>125μm）和纤维（200 - 3000μm）则通过物理应激诱导细胞凋亡。小尺寸PET微塑料的摄取影响以及纤维状PET微塑料对卤虫的物理效应表明，PET微塑料的形态，包括尺寸和形状，可能是决定其对海洋底栖生物生态毒性的主要因素。
