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Caught in Fish Gut: Uptake and Inflammatory Effects of Nanoplastics through Different Routes in the Aquatic Environment
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Researchers investigated how nanoplastics accumulate in zebrafish intestines through different exposure routes, including waterborne, foodborne, and combined pathways. They found that while foodborne exposure led to higher particle accumulation, both routes caused similar levels of intestinal inflammation and immune disruption. The study suggests that current risk assessments based on single-route exposure may underestimate the true danger of nanoplastic pollution in aquatic environments.
The global impact of nanoplastics (NPs) as emerging pollutants on water environments remains uncertain. Previous studies have focused on the toxicity of NPs itself, often ignoring the important effects of exposure routes. Here, we evaluated the impact of different exposure routes (waterborne, foodborne, and coexposure) of 80 nm polystyrene NPs on intestinal accumulation and inflammatory response using zebrafish. Our results demonstrated that aqueous and dietary exposures led to both time- and dose-dependent bioaccumulation of NPs, damaged intestinal structure, and induced immune cells and genes in the intestine. While waterborne exposure caused lower NPs accumulation than foodborne exposure, both demonstrated similar immunotoxicity in the intestine. In addition, co-exposure can lead to a higher accumulation of NPs and toxicity in zebrafish, suggesting that the risk of environmental exposure may be underestimated, as current toxicity assessments have focused on single-route exposure scenarios. We further revealed that NPs activated downstream genes of the toll-like 4 receptor, suggesting that NPs can cause an inflammatory response. Our study is the first known to report that exposure to NPs via different routes induces an accumulation in the intestine and can cause similar intestinal disturbance effects, providing new insights for adequately assessing the potential risks of NPs.
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Researchers studied the combined effects of micro- and nano-sized plastics with the antibiotic oxytetracycline on zebrafish intestines over 30 days. Nano-sized plastics caused more intestinal damage than micro-sized ones, and combined exposures altered gut bacterial communities and increased antibiotic resistance genes. The findings suggest that the co-occurrence of plastic particles and antibiotics in aquatic environments may have compounding negative effects on fish gut health.
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Researchers reviewed how microplastics and nanoplastics accumulate in fish digestive systems and enter the broader food web, highlighting that the fish gut acts as a critical pathway for these particles — and the chemicals stuck to them — to travel from the environment into the human food supply.
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