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Daphnia magna uptake and excretion of luminescence‐labelled polystyrene nanoparticle as visualized by high sensitivity real-time optical imaging
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Researchers used lanthanide-labeled polystyrene nanoparticles and time-gated imaging to track nanoplastic uptake and excretion in live Daphnia magna in real time, finding that the water flea accumulated roughly 12 nanograms of nanoplastics per individual after 24 hours and that a portion migrated into the circulatory system before being slowly excreted over 48 hours.
The environmental and ecological consequences of nanoplastics (NPs) draw increasing research interests and social concerns. However, the in situ and real-time detection of NPs from living organisms and transferring media remains as a major technical obstacle for scientific investigation. Herein we report a novel time-gated imaging (TGI) strategy capable of real-time visualizing the intake of NPs by an individual living organism, which is based on the polystyrene NPs labelled with lanthanide up-conversion luminescence. The limit of detection (LOD) of the TGI apparatus was 600 pg (SNR = 3) in a field of view of 2.4 × 3.8 mm. Taking Daphnia magna as the aquatic model, we investigated the dynamics of uptake and accumulation of NPs (500 μg/L) for 24 h, and the subsequent excretion process (in clean medium) for 48 h, and quantitively analyzed the distribution and the overall mass of NPs deposited in D. magna. The uptake of NPs via filter-feeding occurred in a few minutes, whereas a longer accumulation was found, in a timescale of several hours. And similar behaviors (bi-phase elimination) were also seen in the excretion, indicating the migration of NPs into the circulatory system. The average mass of NPs accumulated in an individual D. magna was ∼12 ng after 24 h exposure, indicating that D. magna as a filter feeder tends to retain NPs. The observed NPs accumulation in D. magna exemplifies the potential risk of aquatic ecosystem on exposure to NP contamination.
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Using gold-coated polystyrene nanoplastics as dual-function probes, researchers tracked how nanoplastics move through the body of the water flea Daphnia magna after ingestion, observing that particles initially accumulate in the intestine and then translocate to other organs within four hours at environmentally concerning concentrations. This direct visualization of inter-organ translocation in a key aquatic model organism strengthens concerns that nanoplastic pollution can spread beyond the gut and affect multiple body systems.
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Researchers used a quantitative approach to measure how the water flea Daphnia magna ingests and excretes micro- and nanoplastic particles of different sizes. They found that larger 2-micrometer particles were ingested in greater mass than 100-nanometer particles, and that complete excretion did not occur within 24 hours. Chronic exposure reduced feeding rates and reproduction, suggesting that ongoing microplastic exposure could have meaningful ecological consequences for these important freshwater organisms.
Confocal surface-enhanced Raman imaging of the intestine barrier crossing behavior of nanoplastics in Daphnia magna
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Using a specially engineered nanoplastic particle visible under confocal Raman imaging, researchers tracked how nanoplastics move from the gut into other organs of the water flea Daphnia magna. The study revealed that nanoplastics can cross the intestinal barrier and translocate to other body parts, providing direct visual evidence of how these particles spread through a living organism and raising concerns about similar processes in other aquatic animals.
When Fluorescence Is not a Particle: The Tissue Translocation of Microplastics in Daphnia magna Seems an Artifact
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Researchers investigated whether fluorescent polystyrene microplastic beads truly translocate from the gut to body tissues in the water flea Daphnia magna, as previous studies had reported. Using confocal microscopy and passive sampling, they found that the fluorescent dye leached off the plastic beads and accumulated in lipid droplets independently of the particles themselves. The study demonstrates that using fluorescence as a proxy for tracking microplastics can produce misleading results about tissue uptake.
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Scientists studying nanoplastics (tiny plastic particles too small to see) usually track them in living organisms by tagging them with glowing dyes, but these dyes get lost in the body's own natural glow, making it hard to know exactly where the plastic ends up. In this study, researchers created a new type of glowing tag that uses special light-converting particles, and tested it in water fleas (a common lab organism), finding it showed up much more clearly in the gut than traditional dyes, without harming the animals. This matters because better tools to track where nanoplastics travel in living bodies could eventually help scientists understand how these particles move through the
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