We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Trophic Transfer of Differentially Hydrophobic Nanoplastics along Marine Food Chains and Related Toxicity
Summary
Researchers studied how surface hydrophobicity affects the movement of nanoplastics through a marine food chain from algae to mysids to fish. They found that more hydrophobic nanoplastics accumulated at significantly higher levels in organisms at each stage of the food chain, suggesting that surface properties play an important role in determining how nanoplastics bioaccumulate in marine ecosystems.
Nanoplastics (NPs) with different hydrophobic properties are widely present in marine environments. However, the role of surface hydrophobicity in the bioaccumulation of NPs in the ecosystems is largely unknown. This study explores the role of surface hydrophobicity in trophic transfer of NPs along marine microalgae (Phaeodactylum tricornutum), mysids (Neomysis awatschensis), and fish (Sebastes schlegelii). For this, two types of Pd-doped polystyrene (PS) NPs (100 nm) were successfully synthesized, including hydrophobic PS1 NPs (octanol-water partition coefficients (Kow), 11.14) and hydrophilic PS2 NPs (Kow, 0.16). After 24-h dietary (algae-mysids) exposure (nominal concentrations, 1.0, 10.0 mg/L), hydrophobic PS1 NPs had higher accumulation in mysids than hydrophilic PS2 NPs due to much higher internalization of free PS1 NPs in seawater by mysids. Along NPs transfer (nominal concentrations, 1.0, 10.0 mg/L) from algae to mysids, and then fish, the contents of PS1 NPs in fish bodies (especially, gills, stomach, skin, blood, intestine, and liver) were also significantly higher than those of PS2 NPs. After dietary exposure, bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) of the two PS NPs in mysids and fish were 44-76 and 1-40 L/kg, respectively; and biomagnification factors (BMFs) along algae-mysids and algae-mysids-fish were 0.20-0.46 and 0.08-0.62, respectively. For PS1 NPs, both BAFs and BMFs were higher than those of PS2 NPs. Additionally, due to higher accumulation in fish brains, hydrophilic PS2 NPs exhibited more pronounced adverse effects on swimming and feeding behaviors of fish than hydrophobic PS1 NPs during dietary exposure. These findings highlight the importance of surface hydrophobicity on trophic transfer and the ecological risk of NPs in marine environments.
Sign in to start a discussion.
More Papers Like This
Transfer of Polystyrene Microplastics with Different Functional Groups in the Aquatic Food Chain
Researchers investigated how polystyrene microplastics with different surface functional groups accumulate and transfer through an aquatic food chain, finding that surface chemistry significantly influences microplastic uptake and trophic transfer between organisms.
Application of marine organisms at multi-trophic level to study the integrated biological responses induced by microplastics through food-chain
Researchers used marine organisms across multiple trophic levels to study how microplastics move and accumulate through the food chain, finding that toxicological effects intensify at higher trophic levels due to bioaccumulation of plastic particles and associated chemical pollutants.
Micro-Nano Plastics in Aquatic Environments: Associated Health Impacts and Mitigation Strategies
This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics in aquatic environments are biologically transferred up the food chain, covering the factors that influence particle bioavailability, accumulation in organisms, and trophic transfer — with implications for both aquatic ecosystem health and human dietary exposure.
Relative importance of microplastics as a pathway for the transfer of hydrophobic organic chemicals to marine life
Researchers assessed the relative importance of microplastics as a pathway for transferring hydrophobic organic chemicals to marine life. The study suggests that while microplastics can carry high concentrations of contaminants, factors like gut surfactants, pH, and temperature influence desorption rates, and modeling indicates other exposure routes may be more significant in natural environments.
Trophic transfer of nanoplastics through a microalgae–crustacean–small yellow croaker food chain: Inhibition of digestive enzyme activity in fish
Researchers tracked how nanoplastics move through a marine food chain from microalgae to crustaceans to fish, demonstrating that plastic particles transfer upward through feeding relationships. The nanoplastics accumulated at each level and ultimately inhibited digestive enzyme activity in the fish. The study suggests that nanoplastics could eventually reach humans through seafood consumption via this same trophic transfer process.