Sublethal effects induced by different plastic nano-sized particles in Daphnia magna at environmentally relevant concentrations

A growing number of studies reports nanoplastics (NPs) capacity to generate negative effects on organisms. The main criticism of these works is related to the almost exclusive use of polystyrene (PS) nanospheres. The present study aims to evaluate the sub-lethal effects induced by three different NPs polymers (PS-NPs, polyethylene PE-NPs, and polyvinyl chloride PVC-NPs) of 200 nm on Daphnia magna juveniles. For each polymer, five environmentally relevant concentrations were tested (from 2.5 to 250 µg/L) for an exposure time of 48 hrs. NPs effects were assessed at the biochemical level, investigating the amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the activity of the antioxidant enzyme catalase (CAT), while at the individual level the swimming response (distance moved) was measured. Our results highlight that exposure to PVC-NPs can pose sub-lethal effects to Daphnia magna at both biochemical and individual levels. We retain that the physical and chemical properties of PVC-NPs, which differ from that of the other investigated polymers, could explain the observed effects. Consequently, since PS does not appear to be the most hazardous polymer, we suggest that the use of only PS toxicity data can lead to an underestimation of NPs hazard.

MASSERONI Andrea;  FOSSATI Marco;  PONTI Jessica;  SCHIRINZI Gabriella;  BECCHI Alessandro;  SALIU Francesco;  SOLER Valentina;  COLLINI Maddalena;  DELLA TORRE Camilla;  VILLA Sara; 

2024-04-30

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

JRC134627

0269-7491 (online),    0269-7491 (print),   

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749123021097?via%3Dihub,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC134627,   

10.1016/j.envpol.2023.123107 (online),