Comparison of Different Commercial Nanopolystyrenes: Behavior in Exposure Media, Effects on Immune Function and Early Larval Development in the Model Bivalve Mytilus galloprovincialis.

Manon Auguste,Angelica Miglioli,Gianluca Damonte,Riccardo Narizzano,Laura Canesi,Stefano Alberti,Sonja Prandi,Teresa Balbi,Annalisa Salis

doi:10.3390/nano11123291

Manon Auguste, Angelica Miglioli + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11123291

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Abstract

In the absence of standard methods for the detection/quantification of nanoplastics (NPs) in environmental samples, commercial nanopolymers are utilized as proxies for toxicity testing and environmental risk assessment. In marine species, a considerable amount of data are now available on the effects of nanopolystyrene (PS-NPs) of different size/surface characteristics. In this work, amino modified PS-NPs (PS-NH2) (50 and 100 nm), purchased from two different companies, were compared in terms of behavior in exposure media and of biological responses, from molecular to organism level, in the model marine bivalve Mytilus. Different PS-NH2 showed distinct agglomeration and surface charge in artificial sea water (ASW) and hemolymph serum (HS). Differences in behavior were largely reflected by the effects on immune function in vitro and in vivo and on early larval development. Stronger effects were generally observed with PS-NH2 of smaller size, showing less agglomeration and higher positive charge in exposure media. Specific molecular interactions with HS components were investigated by the isolation and characterization of the NP-corona proteins. Data obtained in larvae demonstrate interference with the molecular mechanisms of shell biogenesis. Overall, different PS-NH2 can affect the key physiological functions of mussels at environmental concentrations (10 µg/L). However, detailed information on the commercial NPs utilized is required to compare their biological effects among laboratory experiments.

Highlights

The results indicated that the formation of a biomolecular corona is particle-specific and that the net surface charge retained by different nanoparticles in mussel biological fluids, characterized by high ionic strength, rather than size or core composition, might be an important factor in the formation of a stable protein corona [30]
In order to further investigate the nano-bio-interactions of polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NPs) in mussel biological fluids, we evaluated the possible formation of PS100 -S–protein corona in hemolymph serum (HS), utilizing the same procedure previously described
Our data underline that care must be taken in comparing and interpreting the results obtained on the effects of different types of commercial NPs for the same polymer

Summary

Introduction

Nanoplastics (NPs) are currently defined as particles produced from plastic degradation and manufacturing, presenting a colloidal behavior, within the size range of. Atlantic Gyre [2,3] and, more recently, in coastal environments [4]. Such a lack of evidence is related to the still open issue of analytical procedures for their determination and characterization [5]. The formation of NPs from larger plastic items has been experimentally demonstrated [6,7,8,9]. Several studies recently focused on the development of alternative top–down processes to obtain fragmented NPs that are polydisperse and with

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