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Toxicity and intergenerational accumulation effect of tire wear particles and their leachate on Brachionus plicatilis
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Researchers studied tire wear particles, a major source of microplastics in oceans, and found they harm tiny marine animals called rotifers across multiple generations. The toxic effects actually got worse over generations, with repeated exposure being more harmful than single-generation exposure. The zinc and chemical additives in tire particles were the main drivers of toxicity, raising concerns about the growing impact of tire-derived microplastics on marine food chains.
Tire wear particles (TWP) are one of the main sources of microplastic (MP) pollution in the marine environment, causing adverse effects on marine life and attracting increasing attention. This study aimed to investigate the chemical composition of TWP (particles and leachate) and their toxic effects on Brachionus plicatilis. The results showed that Zn and acenaphthene were the most frequently detected compounds in the three TWP treatments. In the single-generation exposure experiment, TWP leachate showed the highest toxicity potential, followed by nano-TWP (<1 μm) and micro-TWP (1-20 μm). Both nano-TWP and leachate had negative effects on the lifespan and population of rotifers. High-concentration TWP leachate significantly shortened the reproductive period of rotifers, slowed down their swimming speed, and reduced the number of offspring. These negative effects were mainly attributed to the toxic mixture of nano-TWP with additives in the leachate. Furthermore, in multi-generation exposure experiments, the toxicity pattern showed a new trend: the toxicity of nano-TWP exceeded that of the leachate, while micro-TWP continued to maintain the lowest toxicity level. Continuous exposure to TWP exerted a significant negative impact on rotifer lifespan, and this effect increases cumulatively between generations. Notably, TWP was trans-generationally toxic to the lifespan of rotifers, and repeated exposure was more toxic than maternal exposure and continuous exposure. In addition, rotifers can ingest and accumulate TWP, and maternal transfer was another uptake pathway of TWP in rotifer offspring. This finding provided a new perspective for understanding the transmission mechanism of TWP in the marine food chain.
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Carryover effects of tire wear particle leachate threats reproduction across multiple generations
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Researchers investigated multi-generational carryover effects of tire wear particle leachate on rotifer (Brachionus calyciflorus) reproduction across seven consecutive generations, finding that past exposure impaired reproductive output in subsequent generations even after the toxicant was removed, suggesting cumulative population-level risks from tire-derived pollutants.
Phenotypic toxicity, oxidative response, and transcriptomic deregulation of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis exposed to a toxic cocktail of tire-wear particle leachate
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Researchers exposed the marine rotifer Brachionus plicatilis to tire-wear particle leachate and observed acute toxicity, oxidative stress, and widespread changes in gene expression related to cellular processes and metabolism. The study suggests that tire-wear particles may pose a greater threat to marine organisms than other microplastics because they release a complex cocktail of nano-sized particles and chemical additives with synergistic toxic effects.
Multigenerational endpoints reveal detrimental effects of tire leachate in the marine mysid Neomysis awatschensis
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Chemicals that leach out of tires (including zinc and other toxic compounds) as they wear down on roads are washing into oceans and harming small shrimp-like creatures called mysids that are an important food source for fish. Scientists found that these tire chemicals caused problems that got worse across multiple generations—including higher death rates, slower growth, and reduced ability to reproduce. While this study focused on marine life rather than humans directly, it's a reminder that everyday products like tires can introduce lasting pollution into ocean food chains, which is worth watching given how connected marine ecosystems are to the seafood many people eat.
Multigenerational effects of tire wear particle leachate through trophic transfer from producer to primary consumer
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This study found that toxic chemicals leaching from tire wear particles can travel up the food chain from algae to zooplankton, with harmful effects compounding across multiple generations of the zooplankton. After just five generations of feeding on contaminated algae, entire zooplankton populations collapsed at high exposure levels — suggesting that single-generation lab tests significantly underestimate the real ecological risk of tire rubber pollution.
Multigenerational toxic effects in Daphnia pulex are induced by environmental concentrations of tire wear particle leachate
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Tiny water fleas exposed to chemicals leaching from tire wear particles across three generations showed impaired growth, delayed reproduction, and reduced offspring, even at concentrations found in the environment. These effects carried over to unexposed offspring, suggesting that tire-derived pollution can cause harm that passes from one generation to the next.
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