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Immunotoxicity of microplastics and polychlorinated biphenyls alone or in combination to Crassostrea gigas
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Researchers exposed oysters to microplastics and PCBs (industrial chemicals) both alone and together, finding that the combination caused significantly worse immune damage than either pollutant on its own. The pollutants reduced the oysters' ability to fight infection, increased cell damage, and triggered cell death pathways. This synergistic effect is concerning because microplastics in the ocean often carry other toxic chemicals, potentially making contaminated seafood a greater health risk.
Microplastics (MPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are pervasive pollutants in the marine environment, exerting adverse effects on marine organisms. While it is suggested that their exposure may compromise the immune responses of marine organisms, the cumulative immunotoxic effects remain uncertain. Additionally, the intricate mechanisms underlying the immunotoxicity of PCBs and MPs in marine organisms are not yet fully comprehended. To illuminate their combined biological impacts, Crassostrea gigas were exposed to 50 μg/L MPs (30-μm porous) alone, as well as 10 or 100 ng/L PCBs individually or in combination with 50 μg/L of MPs for 28 days. Our data demonstrated that oysters treated with the pollutants examined led to decreased total haemocyte count, inhibited phagocytosis of haemocytes, enhanced the intracellular contents of reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation and DNA damage, reduced lysozyme concentration and activity, gave rise to superoxide dismutase. Catalaseand glutathione S-transferaseactivity. The expression of three immune-related genes (NF-κB, TNF-α, TLR-6) was drastically suppressed by the PCBs and MPs treatment, while the apoptosis pathway-related genes (BAX and Caspase-3) showed a significant increase. In addition, compared to oysters treated with a single type of pollutant, coexposure to MPs and PCBs exerted more severe adverse impacts on all the parameters investigated, indicating a significant synergistic effect. Therefore, the risk of MPs and PCBs chemicals on marine organisms should be paid more attention.
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Scientists exposed oysters to microplastics and a toxic pollutant called BaP (found in car exhaust and grilled foods) and found that microplastics alone can damage cells, but the two pollutants together caused even more harm, including DNA damage, than either did on its own. Since oysters filter water like our kidneys filter blood, and people eat shellfish, this suggests that everyday combinations of pollutants in our environment might interact in ways that make them more harmful than testing them separately would suggest.
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Researchers exposed white hard clams to nanoplastics and a type of industrial pollutant called PCB77, both individually and together, and found that the combination caused more severe damage than either pollutant alone. The clams showed increased oxidative stress, tissue damage in their gills and digestive glands, and significant disruption of their gut bacteria. The findings suggest that nanoplastics may worsen the toxic effects of other environmental contaminants in shellfish.
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Swimming crabs exposed to both microplastics and bisphenol-A (BPA, a chemical found in many plastics) for 21 days showed weakened immune responses and disrupted gut bacteria compared to exposure to either pollutant alone. The combination caused more intestinal damage and greater shifts in gene activity related to immune defense. This suggests that microplastics and the chemicals they carry can work together to cause greater harm to marine organisms than either one would cause by itself.
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