Microplastic particles cause intestinal damage and other adverse effects in zebrafish Danio rerio and nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 619-620; pp. 1 - 8
• Main Authors: Lei, Lili, Wu, Siyu, Lu, Shibo, Liu, Mengting, Song, Yang, Fu, Zhenhuan, Shi, Huahong, Raley-Susman, Kathleen M., He, Defu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.04.2018
• Subjects: adverse effects; Animals; aquatic environment; body length; Caenorhabditis elegans; Calcium; cracking; Danio rerio; Ecotoxicity; enterocytes; Environmental Monitoring; freshwater; Glutathione Transferase; Intestinal damages; Intestines - injuries; Microplastics; Oxidative Stress; plastics; Plastics - adverse effects; poly(vinyl chloride); polyamides; polypropylenes; polystyrenes; reproduction; sediments; survival rate; toxicity; villi; Water Pollutants, Chemical - adverse effects; Zebrafish; Caenorhabditis elegans; Oxidative stress; Microplastics; Intestinal damages; Ecotoxicity; Danio rerio
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.11.103

Microplastics have been frequently detected in aquatic environments, and there are increasing concerns about potential effects on biota. In this study, zebrafish Danio rerio and nematode Caenorhabditis elegans were used as model organisms for microplastic exposure in freshwater pelagic (i.e. water column) and benthic (i.e. sediment) environments. We investigated the toxic effects of five common types of microplastics: polyamides (PA), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polystyrene (PS) particles. Results showed no or low lethality in D. rerio after exposure for 10d at 0.001–10.0mgL−1 microplastics. The PA, PE, PP and/or PVC microplastics with ~70μm size caused intestinal damage including cracking of villi and splitting of enterocytes. Exposure to 5.0mgm−2 microplastics for 2d significantly inhibited survival rates, body length and reproduction of C. elegans. Moreover, exposure to microplastics reduced calcium levels but increased expression of the glutathione S-transferase 4 enzyme in the intestine, which indicates intestinal damage and oxidative stress are major effects of microplastic exposure. Among 0.1, 1.0 and 5.0μm sizes of fluorescently labeled PS, 1.0μm particles caused the highest lethality, the maximum accumulation, the lowest Ca2+ level in the intestine and the highest expression of glutathione S-transferase 4 in nematodes. Taken together, these findings suggest that intestinal damage is a key effect of microplastics; and that the toxicity of microplastics is closely dependent on their size, rather than their composition. [Display omitted] •Toxicity was comparatively studied on five common types of microplastics (MPs).•MPs with similar size induced intestine enterocyte damages in Danio rerio.•MPs reduced Ca2+ but increased gst-4 expression in intestine of Caenorhabditis elegans.•1.0μm MPs caused stronger toxicity than 0.1 or 5.0μm MPs in Caenorhabditis elegans.•Intestine damages are key effects of pristine MPs mostly dependent on their sizes.