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Process-oriented impacts of microplastic fibers on behavior and histology of fish
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Researchers exposed goldfish to microplastic fibers in water and observed changes in feeding behavior, coughing, and mucus production across fish tissues. At higher concentrations, the fish ate significantly less food and coughed more frequently as they tried to expel the fibers. The study shows that microplastic fibers can directly interfere with basic fish behaviors and trigger defensive responses, which could affect fish health and growth in contaminated waterways.
Microplastic pollution has raised global concern for its hazards to biota. To determine the direct impact of microplastics during their contact with fish, we exposed goldfish (Carassius auratus) to 100 and 1000 items/L waterborne microplastic fibers in the short- and long-term. In the presence of 1000 items/L of microplastic fibers, the coughing behavior of fish increased significantly after 2 h of exposure. Predatory behaviors decreased significantly by 53.0% after 45 d of exposure, and the reduction in daily food intake was negatively related to exposure duration in the 1000 items/L group. In addition, microplastic fibers stimulated dynamic mucus secretion across different fish tissues during the different processes evaluated in this study, with 30.0% and 62.9% overall increases in the secretory capacity of mucus cells in the 100 and 1000 items/L groups, respectively. These behavioral and histological alterations were derived from the ventilation, feeding, and swimming processes of goldfish. We regarded these changes as process-oriented impacts, suggesting the effects of microplastics on fish and how fish cope with microplastics.
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