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Engineered Polystyrene-Based Microplastics of High Environmental Relevance.

ABSTRACT: Microplastic (MP) pollution-an emerging environmental challenge of the 21st century-refers to accumulation of environmentally weathered polymer-based particles with potential environmental and health risks. Because of technical and practical challenges when using environmental MPs for risk assessment, most available data are generated using plastic models of limited environmental relevancy (i.e., with physicochemical characteristics inherently different from those of environmental MPs). In this study, we assess the effect of dominant weathering conditions-including thermal, photo-, and mechanical degradation-on surface and bulk characteristics of polystyrene (PS)-based single-use products. Further, we augment the environmental relevance of model-enabled risk assessment through the design of engineered MPs. A set of optimized laboratory-based weathering conditions demonstrated a synergetic effect on the PS-based plastic, which was fragmented into millions of 1-3 μm MP particles in under 16 h. The physicochemical properties of these engineered MPs were compared to those of their environmental counterpart and PS microbeads often used as MP models. The engineered MPs exhibit high environmental relevance with rough and oxidized surfaces and a heterogeneous fragmented morphology. Our results suggest that this top-down synthesis protocol combining major weathering mechanisms can fabricate improved, realistic, and reproducible PS-based plastic models with high levels of control over the particles' properties. Through increased environmental relevancy, our plastic model bolsters the field of risk assessment, enabling more reliable estimations of risk associated with an emerging pollutant of global concern.

SUBMITTER: Sarkar AK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8383278 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Plastics are persistent synthetic polymers that accumulate in the marine environment as waste. Microplastic (MP) particles are derived from the breakdown of larger debris or can enter the environment as microscopic fragments. Filter-feeder organisms ingest MP while feeding and are likely to be impacted by MP pollution. To assess the impact of polystyrene microspheres (PS) on the physiology of the Pacific oyster, adult oysters were experimentally exposed to virgin micro-PS (2 and 6 Âµm in diameter; 32 Âµg L-1) for two months during a reproductive cycle. Effects were investigated on transcriptomic responses, in digestive gland gonads and oocytes of exposed oysters. Transcriptomic profiles in the tissues of the exposed oyster showed endocrine disrupting signals, notably highlighting alteration in glucocorticoid response, insulin pathway and fatty-acid metabolism in response to micro-PS exposition. In oocytes from exposed females, several transcripts coding for proteins involved in Ca2+ binding were differentially expressed suggesting a disruption of the Ca2+ signaling pathway with crucial consequences on oocyte maturation. To assess the impact of polystyrene microspheres (PS) on the physiology of the Pacific oyster, adult oysters were experimentally exposed to virgin micro-PS (2 and 6 Âµm in diameter; 32 Âµg L-1) for two months during a reproductive cycle and compared to control oysters. Adults were sampled 2 and 8 weeks after the beginning of exposure (corresponding to T1 and T3, respectively, 8-9 replicates per time of sampling and condition for a total of 56). Tissues were immediately dissected from each oyster, frozen in liquid nitrogen, then crushed to a fine powder at -196Â°C with an oscillating mill mixer and stored in liquid nitrogen until RNA extraction. Oocytes were collected from 5 females per condition, filtered in a 40 Âµm sieve, counted and transferred into 1.5 mL of Extract-all reagent (Eurobio, Courtaboeuf, France) (20,000 oocytes). Total RNA was isolated using 1.5 mL of Extract-all Reagent per 50 mg of gonad powder. For microarray hybridizations, 200 ng of total RNA were indirectly labeled with Cy3 using the Low Input Quick Amp Labeling kit One-Color. Hybridization was performed using the Agilent Gene expression hybridization kit (5188-5242), with 1.65 Î¼g of labeled RNA, for 16 h at 65 Â°C. The employed arrays were Agilent 60-mer 4x44K custom microarrays, containing 31,918 C. gigas ESTs, designed by Dheilly et al. (2011). Slides were scanned on an Agilent Technologies G2565AA Microarray Scanner system at 5 Î¼m resolution, using default parameters. Features were extracted using the Agilent Feature Extraction software 6.1.

Project description:BackgroundPlastic pollution is greatly serious in the ocean and soil. Microplastics (MPs) degraded from plastic has threatened animals and humans health. The accumulation of MPs in the tissues and blood in animals and humans has been found. There is therefore a need to assess the toxicological effects of MPs on the reproductive system.ResultsIn this study, we explored the effect of polystyrene microplastics (PS-MPs) on premature testicular aging in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, we found that testicular sertoli cells (TM4 cells) was prematurely senescent following PS-MPs treatment by the evaluation of a range of aging marker molecules (such as Sa-β-gal, p16 and 21). TM4 cells were then employed for in vitro model to study the potential molecular mechanism by which PS-MPs induce the premature senescence of TM4 cells. NF-κB is identified as a key molecule for PS-MPs-induced TM4 cellular senescence. Furthermore, through eliminating reactive oxygen species (ROS), the activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) was blocked in PS-MPs-induced senescent TM4 cells, indicating that ROS triggers NF-κB activation. Next, we analyzed the causes of mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) accumulation induced by PS-MPs, and results showed that Ca2+ overload induced the accumulation of mtROS. Further, PS-MPs exposure inhibits mitophagy, leading to the continuous accumulation of senescent cells. In vivo, 8-week-old C57 mice were used as models to assess the effect of PS-MPs on premature testicular aging. The results illustrated that PS-MPs exposure causes premature aging of testicular tissue by testing aging markers. Additionally, PS-MPs led to oxidative stress and inflammatory response in the testicular tissue.ConclusionIn short, our experimental results revealed that PS-MPs-caused testicular premature aging is dependent on Ca2+/ROS/NF-κB signaling axis. The current study lays the foundation for further exploration of the effects of microplastics on testicular toxicology.

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Engineered Polystyrene-Based Microplastics of High Environmental Relevance.

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