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Polystyrene microplastics effects on zebrafish embryological development: Comparison of two different sizes
Summary
Zebrafish embryos exposed to polystyrene microplastics of two different sizes (1 and 3 micrometers) showed increased heart rates, physical deformities, and cell death at higher concentrations. The microplastics accumulated inside the larvae and triggered oxidative stress, which is an imbalance that damages cells. These findings add to growing evidence that microplastics can interfere with early development in ways that may be relevant to understanding risks during human pregnancy and infancy.
Microplastics have become a great worldwide problem and it's therefore important to study their possible effects on human and environmental health. In this study, zebrafish embryos were used to compare two different sizes of polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs), 1 µm and 3 µm respectively, at 0.01, 0.1, 1.0 and 10.0 mgL<sup>-1</sup>, and were monitored up to 72 h. Toxicity tests demonstrated that neither of the PS-MPs altered the embryos' survival and the normal hatching process. Instead, higher concentrations of both sizes caused an increase of the heart rate and phenotypic changes. The PS-MPs of both sizes entered and accumulated in the larvae at the concentration of 10.0 mgL<sup>-1</sup> and the same concentration caused an increase of apoptotic processes correlated to redox homeostasis changes. The reported results give a realistic view of the negative effects of exposure to PS-MPs and provide new information on their toxicity, also considering their sizes.
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