Cited by 325Environmental Toxicology and EcotoxicologyMicroplastics and Plastic PollutionNanoparticles: synthesis and applications

Effects of multi-stressors on juveniles of the marine fish Pomatoschistus microps: gold nanoparticles, microplastics and temperature

Ferreira, Pedro, Fonte, Elsa, Soares, M. Elisa, Carvalho, Felix, Guilhermino, Lúcia·2016·Aquatic Toxicology

Abstract

Knowledge on multi-stressors effects required for environmental and human risk assessments is still limited. This study investigated the combined effects of gold nanoparticles (Au-NP), microplastics (MP) and temperature increase on Pomatoschistus microps, an important prey for several higher level predators, including some species edible to humans. Four null hypotheses were tested: H01: P. microps juveniles do not take up Au-NP through the water; H02: Au-NP (ppb range) are not toxic to juveniles; H03: the presence of MP do not influence the effects of Au-NP on juveniles; H04: temperature increase (20-25°C) does not change the effects of the tested chemicals on juveniles. Wild juveniles were acclimated to laboratory conditions. Then, they were exposed to Au-NP (≈5nm diameter) and MP (polyethylene spheres, 1-5μm diameter), alone and in mixture, at 20°C and 25°C, in semi-static conditions. After 96h of exposure to Au-NP, fish had gold in their body (0.129-0.546μg/g w.w.) leading to H01 refusal. Exposure to Au-NP alone caused a predatory performance decrease (≈-39%, p<0.05) leading to H02 refusal. MP did not change the Au-NP toxicity leading to H03 acceptance. Temperature rise significantly increased the concentration of gold in fish exposed to Au-NP (≈2.3 fold), and interacted with chemical effects (e.g. glutathione S-transferases activity) leading to H04 refusal. Thus, the results of this study highlight the importance of further investigating the effects of multi-stressors on marine fish, particularly the effects of temperature on the uptake, biotransformation, elimination and effects of nanoparticles and microplastics, either alone or in mixture. This knowledge is most important to improve the basis for environmental and human risk assessments of these environmental contaminants of high concern.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.aquatox.2015.11.011

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Authors
Ferreira, P., Fonte, E., Soares, M. E., Carvalho, F., & Guilhermino, L.
Affiliations
Universidade do Porto (PT)
Corresponding author
Guilhermino, Lúcia
Venue
Aquatic Toxicology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2016-01
Volume
170
Pages
89-103
ISSN
0166-445X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2184400106
Cited by
325
References
88
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 51 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 7
FWCI
10.01
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Aquatic Toxicology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • (Ministério da Educação e Ciência)
  • European Regional Development Fund
  • Operational Competitiveness Programme
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Nanoparticles: synthesis and applications
Keywords
Pomatoschistus microps, gold nanoparticles, microplastics, temperature rise, combined toxicity, nanoparticle uptake, glutathione S-transferase, biotransformation, polyethylene microplastics, environmental risk assessment
MeSH terms
Acetylcholinesterase, Analysis of Variance, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Biological Assay, Calibration, Colloids, Environmental Exposure, Fishes, Glutathione Transferase, Gold, Particle Size, Perciformes, Plastics, Seawater, Solutions, Stress, Physiological, Temperature, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Nanoparticles, Aquatic Organisms

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