Transfer of benzo[a]pyrene from microplastics to Artemia nauplii and further to zebrafish via a trophic food web experiment: CYP1A induction and visual tracking of persistent organic pollutants

Abstract

The uptake of microplastic particles and the transfer of potential harmful substances along with microplastics has been studied in a variety of organisms, especially invertebrates. However, the potential accumulation of very small microplastic particles along food webs ending with vertebrate models has not been investigated so far. Therefore, a simple artificial food chain with Artemia sp. nauplii and zebrafish (Danio rerio) was established to analyze the transfer of microplastic particles and associated persistent organic pollutants (POPs) between different trophic levels. Very small (1-20 μm) microplastic particles accumulated in Artemia nauplii and were subsequently transferred to fish. Virgin particles not loaded with POPs did not cause any observable physical harm in the intestinal tracts of zebrafish, although parts of the particles were retained within the mucus of intestinal villi and might even have been taken up by epithelial cells. The transfer of associated POPs was tested with the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon benzo[a]pyrene and an ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) assay for CYP1A induction in zebrafish liver as well as via fluorescence analyses. Whereas a significant induction in the EROD assay could not be shown, because of high individual variation and low sensitivity regarding substance concentration, the fluorescence tracking of benzo[a]pyrene indicates that food-borne microplastic-associated POPs may actually desorb in the intestine of fish and are thus transferred to the intestinal epithelium and liver. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1656-1666. © 2016 SETAC.

A Novel Method for Preparing Microplastic Fibers

“…can ingest microplastic fibers. Prior work has demonstrated Artemia nauplii can ingest 1-5 µ m and 10-20 µ m fluorescent PE microbeads (1.2 × 10 6 microplastics per 20,000 nauplii), which were trophically transferred to predatory zebrafish (Danio rerio) 39 . In another study, consumption and adherence of 40 nm NH 2 and 50 nm COOH coated PS nanoparticles (5-100 µ g mL −1 ) resulted in impaired feeding, altered motility and increased molting in Artemia franciscana larvae 40 .…”

Short-term exposure with high concentrations of pristine microplastic particles leads to immobilisation of Daphnia magna

“…PEparticles provided by the same supplier have already been used in recent studies on effects of microplasics (e.g. Batel et al, 2016;Khan et al, 2015). Two different size classes were used for experiments (particles with 1e4 mm and 90e106 mm in diameter), hereafter referred to as 1-mm and 100-mm particles.…”

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

“…Perry et al (2013) found a "ball" of nylon fishing line in little auk that was inside the stomach of a fish. Trophic transfer of microplastics has been demonstrated experimentally in several species ranging from zooplankton to larger invertebrates to fish (Setälä et al, 2014;Farrell & Nelson, 2013;Batel et al, 2016).…”