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

Ekvall, Mikael T LU ; Gimskog, Isabella LU ; Hua, Jing LU ; Kelpsiene, Egle LU ; Lundqvist, Martin LU and Cedervall, Tommy LU (2022) In Scientific Reports 12. p.3109-3109
Abstract

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... (More)

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.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scientific Reports
volume
12
pages
3109 - 3109
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:85125355738
  • pmid:35210488
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-022-06991-1
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
© 2022. The Author(s).
id
ca6991db-cb99-4b23-900e-9b6a10d58c7b
date added to LUP
2022-03-04 08:37:53
date last changed
2024-07-05 04:58:39
@article{ca6991db-cb99-4b23-900e-9b6a10d58c7b,
  abstract     = {{<p>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.</p>}},
  author       = {{Ekvall, Mikael T and Gimskog, Isabella and Hua, Jing and Kelpsiene, Egle and Lundqvist, Martin and Cedervall, Tommy}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  pages        = {{3109--3109}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{Size fractionation of high-density polyethylene breakdown nanoplastics reveals different toxic response in Daphnia magna}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06991-1}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41598-022-06991-1}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}