Meeting Abstract
Plastic pollution is a globally recognized environmental threat that poses potential toxic effects on human- and aquatic organisms. Micro- and nanoplastic particles, which originate from various sources, such as clothing fibers, plastic production, and degraded plastic pollutants, have been of scientific interest in the past decades due to their characteristics of bioaccumulation in a wide variety of marine animals and their ever-increasing global distribution in aquatic environments. In this study, we investigate accumulation of nanoplastics (NPs) in fish embryo and the toxic effects on fish embryonic development using zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model. Within 6 hours post fertilization (hpf), the zebrafish embryos were cultured in water solutions of fluorescent amine-modified polystyrene latex beads with concentrations of of 1µg/mL, 10µg/mL, and 100µg/mL. The development of embryos and the accumulation of the NPs in the embryos were monitored under a fluorescent microscope at 16, 32, and 48 hpf. Mortalities were recorded to obtain and analyze the toxicity and possible LD50 values of NPs. Additionally, genetic responses of the zebrafish embryos to the NP toxic effects were analyzed using quantitative PCR (qPCR). The bioaccumulating rates of NPs in zebrafish embryos at different concentrations were also calculated by monitoring the NP concentrations at 16, 32, and 48 hpf. The result of the present study will help to address the concern of NP contamination in water and the potential impacts to the aquatic animal health. It also contribute to the mechanistic study in the host immune response to NP toxicities.
