Journal
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
Volume 757, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143730
Keywords
Microplastics; Combined toxicology; Zebrafish; Gut microbes; Immune gene
Categories
Funding
- Guangdong Province Universities and Colleges Pearl River Scholar Funded Scheme (2018)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [42077364]
- National Key Research and Development Program of China [2018YFD0900604]
- Key Research Projects of Universities in Guangdong Province [2019KZDXM003, 2020KZDZX1040]
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The study found that microplastics enhance the toxicity of phenanthrene and have a synergistic effect. Accumulation of both microplastics and phenanthrene increased with prolonged exposure time, and the combined exposure group showed more severe effects.
The toxicology of microplastics in combination with other pollutants has attracted widespread attention. In this study, zebrafish were exposed to 3 mg/L polystyrene microplastic, 0.2 mg/L phenanthrene, and a combination of both. Zebrafish microplastic uptake, phenanthrene accumulation, antioxidant-associated enzyme activity and related gene expression, immune-associated gene expression, and the gut microflora were measured after 12 and 24 days of exposure. Phenanthrene and microplastic accumulation increased with exposure time and was also greater in the combined exposure group than in the single exposure group. Combined analysis of antioxidant enzyme activity and immune and antioxidant-related genes shows that exposure alone causes oxidative stress in zebrafish, ultimately increasing immunity and the expression of oxidative stress genes, while combined exposure exacerbates these changes. Fusobacteria decreased and Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes increased in the three exposure groups of gut microorganisms. Overall, our study demonstrates that microplastics enhance the toxicity of phenanthrene and that the two have a synergistic effect. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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