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Less toxic combined microplastics exposure towards attached Chlorella sorokiniana in the presence of sulfamethoxazole while massive microalgal nitrous oxide emission under multiple stresses
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Researchers studied how microplastics from different plastic types (polyethylene, PVC, and polyamide) interact with an antibiotic in a microalgae-based wastewater treatment system. They found that combining different types of microplastics together was more harmful to the algae than mixing microplastics with the antibiotic. The study also showed that stressed algae released more nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, meaning microplastic pollution in wastewater could worsen climate change.
Microalgae-based wastewater treatment could realize simultaneous nutrients recovery and CO sequestration. However, impacts of environmental microplastics (MPs) and antibiotic co-exposure on microalgal growth, nutrients removal, intracellular nitric oxide (NO) accumulation and subsequent nitrous oxide (NO) emission are unclarified, which could greatly offset the CO sequestration benefit. To reveal the potential impacts of environmental concentrations of MPs and antibiotic co-exposure on microalgal greenhouse gas mitigation, this study investigated the effects of representative MPs (PE, PVC, PA), antibiotic sulfamethoxazole (SMX), and nitrite (NO-N) in various combinations on attached Chlorella sorokiniana growth, nutrients removal, anti-oxidative responses, and NO emission originated from intracellular NO build-up. Microalgal biofilm growth was more inhibited under 10 μg/L MPs than 100 μg/L SMX, and MPs+SMX co-exposure displayed toxicity antagonism while MPs+MPs co-exposure caused toxicity synergism (up to 66 % growth inhibition). Extracellular polysaccharides content correlated well with microalgal biofilm density under various stresses, while SMX involved stresses displayed chlorophyll a content reduction. Microalgal assimilation and MPs adsorption contributed to nutrients removal, and phosphorus removal displayed less variance among different stresses (residual phosphorus <0.5 mg/L) than nitrogen. Intracellular NO conversion to NO almost doubled during the co-exposure processes, and NO emission under NO-N + PE+PVC co-exposure could offset the contribution of microalgal CO sequestration by as high as 176.2 %. Results of this study appealed for urgent concern regarding environmental MPs and antibiotic co-exposure on primary producers' growth characteristics and their greenhouse gas mitigation properties.
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Researchers studied what happens when the antibiotic chloramphenicol and polystyrene microplastics are present together in water containing blue-green algae. The study found that the combined exposure was more toxic to the algae than either pollutant alone, disrupting photosynthesis and gene expression. The findings suggest that microplastics and antibiotics may interact in ways that amplify their harmful effects on aquatic ecosystems.
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Researchers examined how environmental microplastic exposure affects the formation of algae biofilms and their interaction with nitric oxide signaling. They found that microplastics disrupted biofilm development and altered the way algae cells communicate through chemical signals. The study suggests that microplastic pollution could impair the natural ability of algae to form protective communities used in wastewater treatment applications.
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Researchers exposed green algae and their surrounding microbial community to both PET microplastic fibers and an antibiotic, finding that combined exposure caused far greater genetic stress than either pollutant alone — with over 12,000 genes disrupted. The study also found that microplastic fibers promoted the spread of antibiotic resistance genes in the microbial community, raising ecological concerns about co-occurring plastic and drug pollution in waterways.
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Scientists found that tiny plastic particles (smaller than a speck of dust) can team up with antibiotics in water to harm algae, the tiny organisms at the base of the food chain, and that the plastic's exact size and surface coating change how toxic the mixture becomes. Interestingly, when plastics and antibiotics mixed together, the combo was often less harmful than antibiotics alone, because the plastic particles soaked up some of the antibiotic. This matters because it shows that studying pollutants one at a time doesn't capture the full picture, real-world mixtures of microplastics and drugs in our water systems behave differently
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Researchers studied how nanoplastics combined with antibiotics affect the bacterial communities surrounding the green alga Chlorella pyrenoidosa and the spread of antibiotic resistance genes. They found that while nanoplastics alone had minimal effects on algal growth, the combination with antibiotics significantly increased toxicity and amplified the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes. The findings suggest that nanoplastic pollution in waterways may worsen the spread of antibiotic resistance, which has implications for both ecosystem and human health.
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