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Nanoplastics Drive the Charge-specific Decline of Aquatic Insect (Chironomus kiinensis) Emergence through Inducing Oxidative Damage and Perturbing the Endocrine System
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Researchers found that nanoplastics with a positive electrical charge were more harmful to aquatic insects than negatively charged ones, reducing emergence rates by over 22% at environmentally relevant concentrations. The positively charged particles were absorbed more easily by larvae due to stronger attraction to cell membranes, causing greater oxidative damage and hormonal disruption.
The ongoing decline in the emergence and biomass of aquatic insects is partly due to the wide distribution of engineered nanoparticles. Nanoplastics (NPs), as emerging engineered nanoparticles, can cause toxicity to aquatic organisms. However, the mechanisms underlying the effects of NPs on aquatic insect emergence are not clear. Here, we explored the accumulation of NPs, phenotypic alterations, and physiological and transcriptional responses of Chironomus kiinensis to NPs carrying positive (NP+) and negative (NP-) charges under environmentally relevant concentrations. Results revealed that NP+ induced more reduction of the emergence rate (85.6% for 1 g/kg NP- group and 77.8% for 1 g/kg NP+ group) and the increase of emergence time of C. kiinensis than NP-. This occurred because NP+ were more easily accumulated in larvae than NP- for their stronger electrostatic interactions with negatively charged biomembranes and less agglomeration in exposure media. Compared with NP-, NP+ led to greater oxidative damage through perturbation of the gene expression related to oxidative stress in C. kiinensis. Moreover, the expression of genes associated with emergence was more disrupted in organisms exposed to NP+ than that exposed to NP-, thereby influencing the hormone contents and emergence process of insect. These findings provided new insights into the molecular mechanism that charged NPs affect aquatic insect emergence.
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NanoplasticsDrivethe Charge-specific Decline ofAquatic Insect (Chironomus kiinensis) Emergence through Inducing Oxidative Damage and Perturbing theEndocrine System
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This study exposed the aquatic insect Chironomus kiinensis to positively and negatively charged nanoplastics at environmentally relevant concentrations and measured emergence rates. Positively charged nanoplastics caused greater reduction in emergence (77.8% vs 85.6% emergence rate) due to higher accumulation in tissues and more pronounced oxidative damage and endocrine disruption.
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Researchers exposed aquatic insect larvae to positively and negatively charged nanoplastics and found that the surface charge significantly affected how toxic the particles were. Positively charged nanoplastics caused more severe gut damage, greater accumulation in tissues, and bigger disruptions to gut bacteria. This matters because nanoplastics in the real environment carry various charges, and the findings suggest that charge is an important factor in determining health risks.
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