Toxicity of tire particle leachates on early life stages of keystone sea urchin species

Sinja Rist; Jessy Le Du-Carrée; Kevin Ugwu; Chiara Intermite; Andrea Acosta-Dacal; Octavio Pérez-Luzardo; Manuel Zumbado; May Gómez; Rodrigo Almeda

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122453

Toxicity of tire particle leachates on early life stages of keystone sea urchin species

Environ Pollut. 2023 Nov 1:336:122453. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122453. Epub 2023 Aug 24.

Authors

Sinja Rist¹, Jessy Le Du-Carrée², Kevin Ugwu³, Chiara Intermite², Andrea Acosta-Dacal⁴, Octavio Pérez-Luzardo⁵, Manuel Zumbado⁵, May Gómez², Rodrigo Almeda²

Affiliations

¹ National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU Aqua), Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark; Marine Ecophysiology Group (EOMAR, IU-ECOAQUA), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. Electronic address: siri@aqua.dtu.dk.
² Marine Ecophysiology Group (EOMAR, IU-ECOAQUA), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
³ Marine Ecophysiology Group (EOMAR, IU-ECOAQUA), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Man-Technology-Environment Research Centre (MTM), Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
⁴ Toxicology Unit, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences (IUIBS), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Paseo Blas Cabrera S/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.
⁵ Toxicology Unit, Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences (IUIBS), University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Paseo Blas Cabrera S/n, 35016, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; Spanish Biomedical Research Center in Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERObn), Spain.

PMID: 37633434
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122453

Abstract

Particles from tires are a major fraction of microplastic pollution. They contain a wide range of chemical additives that can leach into the water and be harmful to aquatic organisms. In this study, we investigated the acute toxicity of tire particle leachates in early life stages of three keystone echinoderm species (Paracentrotus lividus, Arbacia lixula, Diadema africanum). Embryos were exposed for 72 h to a range of leachate dilutions, prepared using a concentration of 1 g L^-1. Larval growth, abnormal development, and mortality were the measured endpoints. Furthermore, we estimated the activity of glutathione S transferase (GST) and the electron transport system (ETS) in P. lividus. Strong concentration-dependent responses were observed in all species, though with differing sensitivity. The median effect concentrations for abnormal development in P. lividus and A. lixula were 0.16 and 0.35 g L^-1, respectively. In D. africanum, mortality overshadowed abnormal development and the median lethal concentration was 0.46 g L^-1. Larvae of P. lividus were significantly smaller than the control from 0.125 g L^-1, while the other two species were affected from 0.5 g L^-1. ETS activity did not change but there was a non-significant trend of increasing GST activity with leachate concentration in P. lividus. Seven organic chemicals and eight metals were detected at elevated concentrations in the leachates. While we regard zinc as a strong candidate to explain some of the observed toxicity, it can be expected that tire particle leachates exhibit a cocktail effect and other leached additives may also contribute to their toxicity. Our results emphasize the importance of multi-species studies as they differ in their susceptibility to tire particle pollution. We found negative effects at concentrations close to projections in the environment, which calls for more research and mitigation actions on these pollutants.

Keywords: Biochemistry; Development; Microplastics; Sea urchin larvae; Tire wear particles.