Zebrafish Can Expel Nanoplastics in Their Gut Quickly, But Not as Fast in the Brain
According to Stanford Medicine, microplastics and their smaller counterparts, nanoplastics, are everywhere — from our food to our water to our clothes and even the air we breathe. While research continues to examine not only the environmental impact but also the health impact of these plastic particles, one study is looking at a particular fish.
Zebrafish are often used in toxicology research because they share similar physiology and genetics with humans. A new study published in Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology used zebrafish to see how nanoplastics could impact human health in the future.
Read More: Crickets Will Eat Microplastics Whole, Leading to the Spread of More Nanoplastics
Nanoplastics Invading Fish
Nanoplastics are defined as plastic particles measuring less than 1 micrometer. That’s so small that you can’t see them with the naked eye, according to the Cleveland Clinic. As plastics break down in our environment, the particles find their way into the soil, air, and waterways.
In water, aquatic organisms such as fish can easily ingest these particles through their food or inadvertently come into contact with them in the water. While previous research in Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health has observed plastic particles in fish, particularly in their digestive systems, these nanoplastics are so small that they can cross biological barriers and make their way into other organs.
To understand how these tiny plastic particles enter the bloodstream, researchers turned to the zebrafish.
Sampling Zebrafish for Nanoplastics
In the Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology study, researchers at City University of Hong Kong exposed zebrafish to nanoplastics through their diet and by adding the plastics to the water in their tanks.
From there, the research team sampled the fish after 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144, 168, and 264 hours, according to the study. The sample results showed that within 24 hours of nanoplastic exposure, the particles had already made their way into the fish’s bloodstream.
Further study found that the plastics, whether ingested through the water or food, had spread and accumulated in organs such as the gills, liver, brain, reproductive organs, and intestines.
A Nanoplastic Model for the Future
During the study, the research team exposed the zebrafish to the nanoplastics for a period of four days, followed by a seven-day depuration phase — a purification phase. After the depuration phase, the team found that the zebrafish had expelled most of the microplastics from organs such as the liver, intestines, and gills. However, it took much longer to eliminate nanoplastics from the brain and reproductive organs.
Based on these results, the research team developed a computer model to simulate the movement of nanoplastics through the zebrafish body. The model was able to successfully predict how nanoplastics traveled, where they accumulated in the body, and how they were expelled. The team is hopeful that the model could also help predict how nanoplastics may move within mammalian bodies.
“Our study demonstrates that nanoplastics can cross biological barriers, enter the circulatory system of fish, and spread throughout their bodies,” says corresponding author Wen-Xiong Wang, in a press release. “This alarming journey may also occur in other animals, and even in humans.”
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