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Coronas of micro/nano plastics: a key determinant in their risk assessments
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This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics develop surface coatings called coronas when they interact with biological and environmental substances. These corona layers, formed from proteins, organic matter, and other materials, can significantly change how plastic particles behave in the body and environment, affecting their uptake, distribution, and toxicity. The study suggests that understanding these surface coatings is essential for accurately assessing the real-world risks of plastic particle exposure.
As an emerging pollutant in the life cycle of plastic products, micro/nanoplastics (M/NPs) are increasingly being released into the natural environment. Substantial concerns have been raised regarding the environmental and health impacts of M/NPs. Although diverse M/NPs have been detected in natural environment, most of them display two similar features, i.e.,high surface area and strong binding affinity, which enable extensive interactions between M/NPs and surrounding substances. This results in the formation of coronas, including eco-coronas and bio-coronas, on the plastic surface in different media. In real exposure scenarios, corona formation on M/NPs is inevitable and often displays variable and complex structures. The surface coronas have been found to impact the transportation, uptake, distribution, biotransformation and toxicity of particulates. Different from conventional toxins, packages on M/NPs rather than bare particles are more dangerous. We, therefore, recommend seriously consideration of the role of surface coronas in safety assessments. This review summarizes recent progress on the eco-coronas and bio-coronas of M/NPs, and further discusses the analytical methods to interpret corona structures, highlights the impacts of the corona on toxicity and provides future perspectives.
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Eco-corona formation and associated ecotoxicological impacts of nanoplastics in the environment
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This review examines how nanoplastics interact with natural organic matter in the environment to form an 'eco-corona,' a coating of biomolecules on the particle surface that changes their behavior and toxicity. Researchers found that eco-corona formation alters nanoplastic stability, transport, and biological interactions in ways that can either increase or decrease their harmful effects on organisms. The study highlights the importance of considering these surface transformations when assessing the real-world environmental risks of nanoplastic pollution.
The Composition of the Eco-corona Acquired by Micro- and Nanoscale Plastics Impacts on their Ecotoxicity and Interactions with Co-pollutants
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This review examines how the 'eco-corona' — a layer of environmental biomolecules adsorbing onto plastic particle surfaces — alters the toxicity, transport, and interaction with co-pollutants of micro- and nanoplastics, emphasizing that this biological coating fundamentally changes how plastics behave in living organisms.
Toxicity of micro/nanoplastics in the environment: Roles of plastisphere and eco-corona
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This review examines how microplastics and nanoplastics gain biological coatings in the environment: larger microplastics develop a "plastisphere" of microorganisms on their surface, while smaller nanoplastics get wrapped in proteins and organic matter forming an "eco-corona." Both coatings change how toxic the particles are to living organisms and humans. The review highlights that studying plastic particles without these coatings, as most lab experiments do, may underestimate or mischaracterize their real-world health risks.
Ecotoxicological significance of bio-corona formation on micro/nanoplastics in aquatic organisms
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This review examined the ecotoxicological significance of bio-corona formation on micro- and nanoplastics in aquatic organisms, exploring how protein and biomolecule coatings alter the bioavailability, toxicity, and environmental fate of plastic particles.
The interaction of micro/nano plastics and the environment: Effects of ecological corona on the toxicity to aquatic organisms.
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This review examines how the ecological corona — the layer of organic matter, proteins, and microbes that form on micro- and nanoplastic surfaces in water — affects their toxicity to aquatic organisms. The ecological corona can either increase or decrease toxicity depending on its composition, making real-world plastic hazard assessment more complex than laboratory tests with clean particles suggest.
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