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Danio rerio as a Model Animal for Assessing Microplastic Toxicity
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This review examines the use of zebrafish as a model organism for assessing microplastic toxicity, summarizing experimental findings across polymer types and sizes showing that microplastic exposure induces epithelial damage, lipid metabolism disruption, reproductive impairment, and neurobehavioral alterations, and discussing the strengths and limitations of Danio rerio for microplastic hazard assessment.
Microplastics are presently a major worldwide hazard, whether they come from massive plastic breakdown or directly from consumer and industrial items. By altering their physicochemical characteristics, weathering processes of plastics cause the fragmentation of polymers into microplastics. Due to delayed disposal of plastic waste, a lack of detecting equipment and specific removal techniques and a slow disposal rate, microplastics are prevalent in the environment. Microplastics are tiny enough to be easily absorbed. As a result, the presence of microplastics poses a hazard to both live species present in benthic zones and the water column. Microplastics therefore have non-lethal impacts on these creatures. In the present paper, various studies have been reviewed to find the effects of microplastics on Danio rerio (Zebrafish). Various microplastics caused epithelial damage, lipid accumulation in the liver, metabolic changes, adverse effects on gonads, obstructed fin regeneration and contraction parameters in the heart tissue of Danio rerio. Exposure to polystyrene decreased the bioavailability and bioaccumulation of F-53B which significantly reduced the body weight of Danio rerio larvae and resulted in oxidative stress and inflammation. Other sublethal effects included significant decrease in swimming distance as well as speed. Acetylcholinesterase activity of Danio rerio was remarkably inhibited by the microplastic exposure which further induced the immune responses. These findings emphasise the health hazards associated with microplastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems. Further studies are needed to assess the health impacts associated with microplastic exposure and their possible remedies.
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This review examines the use of zebrafish as a model organism for evaluating the toxicity of microplastics, synthesizing research on how microplastic exposure affects development, reproduction, and physiological function in this well-established vertebrate model. The authors highlight zebrafish as a particularly valuable system for mechanistic toxicology studies given its genetic tractability and the breadth of endpoints assessable across life stages.
Use of zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model for research in toxicological studies
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This review explains why zebrafish (Danio rerio) are a valuable model organism for toxicology research, summarizing how their biology, genetics, and organ systems resemble those of humans enough to yield insights about human health risks. Zebrafish are widely used in microplastic toxicology studies, and this review provides context for understanding the significance of zebrafish findings for human health. The paper covers applications across disease modeling and environmental toxicology.
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This paper is not about microplastics per se; it is a Polish-language review of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) model in toxicology, covering its use for assessing neurotoxicity, teratotoxicity, and genotoxicity of xenobiotics including nanoparticles and microplastics, with discussion of the micronucleus and comet assays used to detect genetic damage.
Biological Consequences of Microplastic Exposure in Zebrafish (Danio rerio): A Systematic Review Across Developmental, Physiological, and Neurobehavioral Endpoints
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This review pulls together 60 studies on zebrafish (a common lab fish used to study health effects) exposed to microplastics, finding that these tiny plastic particles can harm development, damage organs, disrupt hormones, and alter behavior—with "aged" or weathered microplastics (the kind more common in real-world pollution) often causing more harm than fresh ones. While zebrafish aren't humans, they share enough biology with us that these findings raise real concerns about how the microplastics we're increasingly exposed to through food, water, and air might affect our own health, especially since scientists still need to standardize how they test microplastic exposure
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This review summarises zebrafish studies on the toxicity of nanoplastics and microplastics, covering developmental, reproductive, neurological, and organ-level effects. It discusses how findings in this widely used model organism may predict human health outcomes and calls for standardised exposure protocols.
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