Abstract
BackgroundThe increasing production of nanoplastics and the fragmentation of microplastics into smaller particles suggest a plausible yet unclear hazard in the natural environment, such as soil. We investigated the short-term effects (28 days) of polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NPs) on the activity and biomass of soil microbiota, and the functional diversity of soil enzymes at environmental relevant low levels in an incubation experiment.ResultsOur results showed a significant decrease in microbial biomass in treatments of 100 and 1000 ng PS-NP g−1 DM throughout the incubation period. Dehydrogenase activity and activities of enzymes involved in N-(leucine-aminopeptidase), P-(alkaline-phosphatase), and C-(β-glucosidase and cellobiohydrolase) cycles in the soil were significantly reduced at day 28 suggesting a broad and detrimental impact of PS-NPs on soil microbiota and enzymes. Leucine-aminopeptidase and alkaline-phosphatase activities tended to decrease consistently, while β-glucosidase and cellobiohydrolase activities increased at high concentrations (e.g., PS-NP-1000) in the beginning of the incubation period, e.g., at day 1. On the other hand, basal respiration and metabolic quotient increased with increasing PS-NP application rate throughout the incubation period possibly due to increased cell death that caused substrate-induced respiration (cryptic growth).ConclusionsWe herewith demonstrated for the first time the potential antimicrobial activity of PS-NPs in soil, and this may serve as an important resource in environmental risk assessment of PS-NPs in the soil environment.
Highlights
The increasing production of nanoplastics and the fragmentation of microplastics into smaller particles suggest a plausible yet unclear hazard in the natural environment, such as soil
Characteristics of the polystyrene nanoparticles (PS-NPs) were as follows: size (TEM): 32.6 nm ± 11.9 nm; hydrodynamic diameter (DLS, z-average): 69.5 ± 0.5 nm; polydispersity index (PDI) (DLS) = 0.036 ± 0.005; gyration diameter calculated from AF4-multi-angle light scattering (MALS) = 46.4 nm ± 0.3 nm; hydrodynamic diameter calculated from AF4-dynamic light scattering (DLS) = 72.3 nm ± 1.2 nm; Zeta-potential: − 43.3 ± 17.5 mV
We demonstrate for the first time that PS-NP can significantly lower soil microbial biomass and enzyme activities
Summary
The increasing production of nanoplastics and the fragmentation of microplastics into smaller particles suggest a plausible yet unclear hazard in the natural environment, such as soil. Dehydrogenase activity and activities of enzymes involved in N-(leucineaminopeptidase), P-(alkaline-phosphatase), and C-(β-glucosidase and cellobiohydrolase) cycles in the soil were significantly reduced at day 28 suggesting a broad and detrimental impact of PS-NPs on soil microbiota and enzymes. Leucine-aminopeptidase and alkaline-phosphatase activities tended to decrease consistently, while β-glucosidase and cellobiohydrolase activities increased at high concentrations (e.g., PS-NP-1000) in the beginning of the incubation period, e.g., at day 1. PS could enter the soil through direct release from products and applications during their life cycle [2] and through fragmentation of macro- and microplastics. The absence of measured NP concentration in the environment, hampers the accuracy of eco-toxicological assessment
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