Size fractionation of high-density polyethylene breakdown nanoplastics reveals different toxic response in Daphnia magna

Plastic litter is a growing environmental problem. Recently, microplastics and nanoplastics, produced during breakdown processes in nature, have been in focus. Although there is a growing knowledge concerning microplastic, little is still known about the effect of nanoplastics. We have showed that m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2022-02, Vol.12 (1), p.3109-11, Article 3109
Main Authors: Ekvall, Mikael T., Gimskog, Isabella, Hua, Jing, Kelpsiene, Egle, Lundqvist, Martin, Cedervall, Tommy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/301
704/172
Animals
Biomaterials Science
Biomaterialvetenskap
Chemical Engineering
Chemical Fractionation
Daphnia - drug effects
Daphnia - metabolism
Daphnia - physiology
Daphnia magna
Earth and Related Environmental Sciences
Engineering and Technology
Environmental impact
Fractionation
Fresh Water
Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap
High density polyethylenes
Humanities and Social Sciences
Kemiteknik
Medical and Health Sciences
Medical Biotechnology
Medicin och hälsovetenskap
Medicinsk bioteknologi
Microplastics
Microplastics - toxicity
multidisciplinary
Natural Sciences
Naturvetenskap
Plastic debris
Plastic pollution
Plastics - toxicity
Polyethylene
Polyethylene - toxicity
Polymer Technologies
Polymerteknologi
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Teknik
Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity
Zooplankton
Zooplankton - drug effects
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Summary:Plastic litter is a growing environmental problem. Recently, microplastics and nanoplastics, produced during breakdown processes in nature, have been in focus. Although there is a growing knowledge concerning microplastic, little is still known about the effect of nanoplastics. We have showed that mechanical breakdown of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), followed by filtration through 0.8 µm filters, produces material toxic to the freshwater zooplankton Daphnia magna and affected the reproduction in life-time tests. However, further size fractionation and purification reveals that the nanoplastics fraction is non-toxic at these concentrations, whereas the fraction with smaller sizes, below ~ 3 nm, is toxic. The HDPE nanoplastics are highly oxidized and with an average diameter of 110 nm. We conclude that mechanical breakdown of HDPE may cause environmental problems, but that the fraction of leached additives and short chain HDPE are more problematic than HDPE nanoplastics.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-06991-1