Food Chain Transport of Nanoparticles Affects Behaviour and Fat Metabolism in Fish

Abstract

Nano-sized (10−9–10−7 m) particles offer many technical and biomedical advances over the bulk material. The use of nanoparticles in cosmetics, detergents, food and other commercial products is rapidly increasing despite little knowledge of their effect on organism metabolism. We show here that commercially manufactured polystyrene nanoparticles, transported through an aquatic food chain from algae, through zooplankton to fish, affect lipid metabolism and behaviour of the top consumer. At least three independent metabolic parameters differed between control and test fish: the weight loss, the triglycerides∶cholesterol ratio in blood serum, and the distribution of cholesterol between muscle and liver. Moreover, we demonstrate that nanoparticles bind to apolipoprotein A-I in fish serum in-vitro, thereby restraining them from properly utilising their fat reserves if absorbed through ingestion. In addition to the metabolic effects, we show that consumption of nanoparticle-containing zooplankton affects the feeding behaviour of the fish. The time it took the fish to consume 95% of the food presented to them was more than doubled for nanoparticle-exposed compared to control fish. Since many nano-sized products will, through the sewage system, end up in freshwater and marine habitats, our study provides a potential bioassay for testing new nano-sized material before manufacturing. In conclusion, our study shows that from knowledge of the molecular composition of the protein corona around nanoparticles it is possible to make a testable molecular hypothesis and bioassay of the potential biological risks of a defined nanoparticle at the organism and ecosystem level.

Nanoplastics in the Aquatic Environment. Critical Review

“…Cedervall et al (2012) showed that 25 nm nanopolystyrene particles were transported through an aquatic food chain from green algae (Scenedesmus sp. ), through water fleas (Daphnia magna) to carp (Carassius carassius) and other fishes, and affected lipid metabolism and behaviour of the fish.…”

A novel, highly efficient method for the separation and quantification of plastic particles in sediments of aquatic environments

“…Additionally, plastic particles can adsorb and transport persistent organic "pollutants" such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE, Hirai et al 2011;Teuten et al 2009). The mere presence of toxic substances and persistent organic pollutants on microplastics enhances the risk of bioaccumulation since the particles could be incorporated by living organisms (Cedervall et al 2012;Andrady 2011;Gouin et al 2011). This is even more likely for microscopic plastic fragments (Graham and Thompson 2009;Browne et al 2008; Thompson et al 2004).…”

Micro-and macro-plastics in marine species from Nordic waters

“…However, it has also been observed that nanosized plastic particles are found in the circulatory systems and translocated to the fish liver (Avio et al, 2015b). In addition, it has been found that such exposure to nanoparticles can change fish metabolism (Cedervall et al, 2012). Plastic exposure has also been found to change gene expression for example up-regulation of fatty acids and down regulation of amino acids (Lu et al, 2016) while also other impacts following microplastic exposure have been found, such as hepatic stress .…”