Co-Exposure of Nanopolystyrene and Other Environmental Contaminants-Their Toxic Effects on the Survival and Reproduction of Enchytraeus crypticus

• Published in: Toxics (Basel) 2022-04, Vol.10 (4), p.193
• Main Authors: Mendes, Luís A, Barreto, Angela, Santos, Joana, Amorim, Mónica J B, Maria, Vera L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anthropogenic factors; Contaminants; Diphenhydramine; ecotoxicity; Enchytraeus crypticus; Exposure; Heavy metals; Human influences; Invertebrates; Laboratories; metal-based; Molecular weight; Nanomaterials; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Organisms; Pharmaceuticals; plastics; Reproduction; Silver; Silver nitrate; Soil contamination; soil fauna; Soil pollution; Soils; Survival; Synergism; Terrestrial environments; Vanadium
• ISSN: 2305-6304; 2305-6304
• DOI: 10.3390/toxics10040193

Plastics in all shapes and sizes have become widespread across ecosystems due to intense anthropogenic use. As such, they can interact with other contaminants that accumulate in the terrestrial environment, such as pharmaceuticals, metals or nanomaterials (NMs). These interactions can potentiate combined toxic effects in the exposed soil organisms, with hazardous long-term consequences to the full ecosystem. In the present study, a terrestrial model species, (oligochaeta), was exposed through contaminated soil with nanopolystyrene (representative of nanoplastics (NPls)), alone and in combination with diphenhydramine (DPH, representative of pharmaceuticals), silver nitrate (AgNO , representative of metals) and vanadium nanoparticles (VNPs, representative of NMs). AgNO and VNPs decreased reproduction at 50 mg/kg, regardless of the presence of NPls. Moreover, at the same concentration, both single and combined VNP exposures decreased the survival. On the other hand, DPH and NPls individually caused no effect on organisms' survival and reproduction. However, the combination of DPH (10 and 50 mg/kg) with 300 mg NPls/kg induced a decrease in reproduction, showing a relevant interaction between the two contaminants (synergism). Our findings indicate that the NPls can play a role as vectors for other contaminants and can potentiate the effects of pharmaceuticals, such as DPH, even at low and sub-lethal concentrations, highlighting the negative impact of mixtures of contaminants (including NPls) on soil systems.