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Stimulated Raman Scattering Microscopy Reveals Bioaccumulation of Small Microplastics in Protozoa from Natural Waters
Summary
Using advanced imaging technology, scientists confirmed for the first time that single-celled organisms (protozoa) in natural water accumulate microplastics smaller than 10 micrometers inside their bodies. The protozoa concentrated these tiny plastics to levels thousands of times higher than the surrounding water. Since protozoa are at the base of many food chains, this bioaccumulation could transfer microplastics up to larger organisms, including fish and ultimately humans.
Microplastics (MPs) are pollutants of global concern, and bioaccumulation determines their biological effects. Although microorganisms form a large fraction of our ecosystem’s biomass and are important in biogeochemical cycling, their accumulation of MPs has never been confirmed in natural waters because current tools for field biological samples can detect only MPs > 10 μm. Here, we show that stimulated Raman scattering microscopy (SRS) can image and quantify the bioaccumulation of small MPs (<10 μm) in protozoa. Our label-free method, which differentiates MPs by their SRS spectra, detects individual and mixtures of different MPs (e.g., polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, and poly(methyl methacrylate)) in protozoa. The ability of SRS to quantify cellular MP accumulation is similar to that of flow cytometry, a fluorescence-based method commonly used to determine cellular MP accumulation. Moreover, we discovered that protozoa in water samples from Yangtze River, Xianlin Wastewater Treatment Plant, Lake Taihu and the Pearl River Estuary accumulated MPs < 10 μm, but the proportion of MP-containing cells was low (∼2–5%). Our findings suggest that small MPs could potentially enter the food chain and transfer to organisms at higher trophic levels, posing environmental and health risks that deserve closer scrutiny.