Micro-( 5 mm) and nanoplastics ( 1 μm) are emerging threats for marine ecosystems worldwide. Brine shrimp Artemia is recognized as a suitable model among planktonic species for studying the impact of polystyrene nanoparticles (PS NPs) through short and long-term bioassays. Our study aims to evaluate the timedependent effects of cationic amino-modified PS-NH 2 (50 nm) in A. franciscana after short-(48 h) and long-term exposure (14 days). For this purpose, nauplii were exposed to a concentration range of PS-NH 2 (0.1, 1, 3 and 10 µg/mL) in natural sea water (NSW), and physiological, biochemical and molecular responses were investigated. Short-term exposure to PS-NH 2 caused a decrease in nauplii growth and affected the development in a concentration-dependent manner, long-term exposure impaired the survival, but not the growth and feeding behavior. Oxidative stress was detected after short term exposure as the decrease in the activity of antioxidant enzymes, and was fully evident in the long-term as lipid peroxidation, suggesting an accumulative effect. The decrease in Cholinesterase (ChE) activity observed indicates possible neurotoxic action of PS-NH 2. Also, Carboxylesterase (CbE) inhibition by PS-NH 2, described for the first time in this study, anticipates potential effects in biotransformation of exogenous and endogenous compounds, being the crustacean juvenile hormone methyl farnesoate (MF) that regulates development and molting, one candidate. Furthermore, short-and long-term exposure to PS-NH 2 affect the expression of genes involved in cell protection, development and molting. Overall, our results reveal that low PS-NH 2 concentrations induce physiological, biochemical and molecular (changes in gene expression) alterations in Artemia, and point at their potential risk for this model organism, supporting the general concern about nanoplastics occurrences in aquatic environments and their ability to represent an ecological threat for aquatic zooplanktonic species.

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Previous studies have demonstrated that the commercial feed of aquacultured fish contains trace amounts of toxic and essential metals which can accumulate in tissues and finally be ingested by consumers. Recently rising temperatures, associated to the global warming phenomenon, have been reported as a factor to be taken into consideration in ecotoxicology, since temperature-dependent alterations in bioavailability, toxicokinetics and biotransformation rates can be expected. Sparus aurata were kept at 22°C, 27°C and 30°C for 3 months in order to determine the temperature effect on metallothionein induction and metal bioaccumulation from a non-experimentally contaminated commercial feed. A significant temperature-dependent accumulation of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb) and iron (Fe) was found in liver, together with that of manganese (Mn), Fe and Zn in muscle. Hg presented the highest bioaccumulation factor, and essential metal homeostasis was disturbed in both tissues at warm temperatures. An enhancement of hepatic metallothionein induction was found in fish exposed to the highest temperature.