Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Fate and biological uptake of polystyrene nanoparticles in freshwater wetland ecosystems

Stábile, Franca LU orcid ; Ekvall, Mikael T. LU ; Gallego-Urrea, Julián A. ; Nwachukwu, Temitope ; Soorasena, Weligalage Chalani Umesha ; Rivas-Comerlati, Pierina Isabella and Hansson, Lars Anders LU orcid (2024) In Environmental Science: Nano 11(8). p.3475-3486
Abstract

Little is known about the fate and uptake of nanoplastics (NPs) in natural ecosystems, mainly due to analytical limitations in measuring NPs in complex environmental matrices. Our aim was to quantitatively assess the transport, fate and biological uptake of NPs in freshwater ecosystems by using replicated wetland mesocosms and gold-doped polystyrene nanoparticles. We showed that 97% of the NPs were retained in the wetlands, with most of them found in the sediment of the mesocosm's lake compartment. A small fraction (3%) of the NPs left the system through the outlet. After 10 weeks of exposure, both filter feeders (Daphnia magna) and detritivores (Asellus aquaticus) had taken up NPs, with D. magna showing a 5 times higher uptake than A.... (More)

Little is known about the fate and uptake of nanoplastics (NPs) in natural ecosystems, mainly due to analytical limitations in measuring NPs in complex environmental matrices. Our aim was to quantitatively assess the transport, fate and biological uptake of NPs in freshwater ecosystems by using replicated wetland mesocosms and gold-doped polystyrene nanoparticles. We showed that 97% of the NPs were retained in the wetlands, with most of them found in the sediment of the mesocosm's lake compartment. A small fraction (3%) of the NPs left the system through the outlet. After 10 weeks of exposure, both filter feeders (Daphnia magna) and detritivores (Asellus aquaticus) had taken up NPs, with D. magna showing a 5 times higher uptake than A. aquaticus. Moreover, NPs were detected in macrophyte roots and their leaves, with significantly higher values in the roots. NP distribution was negatively related with distance from the point of addition, a relation observed both for sediments and macrophytes. Both with respect to the experimental set-up and NP concentrations, our study provides novel insights to the understanding of the fate and uptake of NPs, a contaminant of emerging concern, in natural scenarios. In a broader context, our study also provides crucial knowledge for risk assessment and support for decision-makers and ongoing legislative work regarding nanoplastics.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Environmental Science: Nano
volume
11
issue
8
pages
3475 - 3486
publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
external identifiers
  • scopus:85197854770
ISSN
2051-8153
DOI
10.1039/d3en00628j
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
id
1bea5887-731b-4666-a9d5-bd8a99c4ab52
date added to LUP
2024-07-23 14:20:49
date last changed
2024-08-13 14:31:49
@article{1bea5887-731b-4666-a9d5-bd8a99c4ab52,
  abstract     = {{<p>Little is known about the fate and uptake of nanoplastics (NPs) in natural ecosystems, mainly due to analytical limitations in measuring NPs in complex environmental matrices. Our aim was to quantitatively assess the transport, fate and biological uptake of NPs in freshwater ecosystems by using replicated wetland mesocosms and gold-doped polystyrene nanoparticles. We showed that 97% of the NPs were retained in the wetlands, with most of them found in the sediment of the mesocosm's lake compartment. A small fraction (3%) of the NPs left the system through the outlet. After 10 weeks of exposure, both filter feeders (Daphnia magna) and detritivores (Asellus aquaticus) had taken up NPs, with D. magna showing a 5 times higher uptake than A. aquaticus. Moreover, NPs were detected in macrophyte roots and their leaves, with significantly higher values in the roots. NP distribution was negatively related with distance from the point of addition, a relation observed both for sediments and macrophytes. Both with respect to the experimental set-up and NP concentrations, our study provides novel insights to the understanding of the fate and uptake of NPs, a contaminant of emerging concern, in natural scenarios. In a broader context, our study also provides crucial knowledge for risk assessment and support for decision-makers and ongoing legislative work regarding nanoplastics.</p>}},
  author       = {{Stábile, Franca and Ekvall, Mikael T. and Gallego-Urrea, Julián A. and Nwachukwu, Temitope and Soorasena, Weligalage Chalani Umesha and Rivas-Comerlati, Pierina Isabella and Hansson, Lars Anders}},
  issn         = {{2051-8153}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{3475--3486}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society of Chemistry}},
  series       = {{Environmental Science: Nano}},
  title        = {{Fate and biological uptake of polystyrene nanoparticles in freshwater wetland ecosystems}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d3en00628j}},
  doi          = {{10.1039/d3en00628j}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}