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PVC pellet leachates affect adult immune system and embryonic development but not reproductive capacity in the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus
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Researchers investigated the effects of PVC plastic pellet leachates on adult sea urchins and their offspring. The study found that while adults in contaminated water still produced viable embryos, they showed reduced immune cell counts, increased oxidative stress, and produced offspring that were less tolerant of polluted environments, suggesting that sublethal plastic pollution effects in adults may carry over to reduce developmental resilience in future generations.
Microplastic pollution is a major concern of our age, eliciting a range of effects on organisms including during embryonic development. Plastic preproduction pellets stunt the development of sea urchins through the leaching of teratogenic compounds. However, the effect of these leachates on adult sea urchins and their fertility is unknown. Here we investigate the effect of PVC leachates on the capacity to produce normal embryos, and demonstrate that adults kept in contaminated water still produce viable offspring. However, we observe a cumulative negative effect by continued exposure to highly polluted water: adult animals had lower counts and disturbed morphological profiles of immune cells, were under increased oxidative stress, and produced embryos less tolerant of contaminated environments. Our findings suggest that even in highly polluted areas, sea urchins are fertile, but that sublethal effects seen in the adults may lead to transgenerational effects that reduce developmental robustness of the embryos.
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Researchers found that chemical leachates from PVC microplastics disrupted sea urchin embryonic development, revealing molecular pathway alterations in skeletal formation and stress responses that highlight a previously underexplored route of developmental ecotoxicity.
Developmental toxicity of plastic leachates on the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus
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Leachates from new industrial nurdles, beached nurdles, and biobeads caused developmental abnormalities in sea urchin embryos, with chemical analysis identifying a diverse mixture of additives and environmental contaminants in each leachate — providing detailed morphological documentation of plastic leachate developmental toxicity.
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Researchers tested the toxicity of micronized PVC from colored plastic toys on sea urchin embryos. They found that while virgin PVC polymer was not toxic, the chemicals leaching from colored plastic products caused developmental arrest and morphological abnormalities in the embryos. Different colored plastics showed different levels of toxicity, likely due to varying heavy metal content in the coloring agents, highlighting that plastic additives rather than the polymer itself drive toxicity.
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Polystyrene and PMMA microplastics of various sizes were tested on sea urchin embryos from fertilization to the pluteus larval stage, causing dose-dependent developmental defects, cytogenetic abnormalities, and mitotic disruption, with sperm exposure to both plastic types also producing transmissible damage to offspring. The findings reveal significant developmental, genotoxic, and multigenerational hazards from microplastic exposure in marine invertebrates.
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