Diet preference of zebrafish (Danio rerio) for bio-based polylactic acid microplastics and induced intestinal damage and microbiota dysbiosis

Zhenghua Duan; Haodong Cheng; Xinyue Duan; Haihong Zhang; Yudi Wang; Zhiyuan Gong; Huajing Zhang; Hongwen Sun; Lei Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128332

Diet preference of zebrafish (Danio rerio) for bio-based polylactic acid microplastics and induced intestinal damage and microbiota dysbiosis

J Hazard Mater. 2022 May 5:429:128332. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128332. Epub 2022 Jan 25.

Authors

Zhenghua Duan¹, Haodong Cheng², Xinyue Duan², Haihong Zhang², Yudi Wang², Zhiyuan Gong³, Huajing Zhang⁴, Hongwen Sun⁴, Lei Wang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Tianjin Key Laboratory of Hazardous Waste Safety Disposal and Recycling Technology/School of Environmental Science and Safety Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China; MOE Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria/Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China.
² Tianjin Key Laboratory of Hazardous Waste Safety Disposal and Recycling Technology/School of Environmental Science and Safety Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China.
³ Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore.
⁴ MOE Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria/Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China.
⁵ MOE Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria/Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China. Electronic address: wang2007@nankai.edu.cn.

PMID: 35114456
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.128332

Abstract

The ingestion of petroleum-based microplastics (MPs) by aquatic animals and their toxicological effects are of wide concern. However, the ecological risks of bio-based MPs to aquatic animals remain largely unknown. In the present study, zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to MPs of polylactic acid (PLA), the most widely used bio-based plastic, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a high-production volume petroleum-based plastic. PLA MPs were more actively ingested by fish than PET MPs. The abundance of PLA MPs in fish intestines was approximately 170 times greater than that of PET MPs after one day of exposure. The ingestion of PLA MPs caused gastrointestinal damage in zebrafish. In addition, the ingestion of PLA MPs induced specific changes in the diversity of intestinal microbiota and promoted species closely linked with energy metabolism, cellular processes, and fish diseases. This might have been related to the depolymerization of PLA in the digestive tract, which decreased the intestinal pH and changed the carbon source structure. Overall, bio-based MPs may have different ecological effects on aquatic animals than traditional petroleum-based MPs.

Keywords: Bio-based plastics; Diet performance; Health risk; Intestinal damage; Microbiota dysbiosis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Diet
Dysbiosis / chemically induced
Intestines / chemistry
Microbiota*
Microplastics / toxicity
Plastics / toxicity
Polyesters / toxicity
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / toxicity
Zebrafish

Substances

Microplastics
Plastics
Polyesters
Water Pollutants, Chemical
poly(lactide)