Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Combined effect of anthracene and polyethylene microplastics on swimming speed and cytochrome P4501A monooxygenase expression of Java medaka (Oryzias javanicus)

  • Published:
Ecotoxicology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Microplastics have been detected in a variety of aquatic ecosystems, and the combined effect of microplastics and chemical pollutants has become a matter of increasing concern. We conducted a 12-d co-exposure test of anthracene and spherical or fragmented polyethylene microplastics (size 200 µm) on Java medaka (Oryzias javanicus). The accumulation of anthracene in Java medaka muscle reached a plateau on day 5 in all anthracene exposure groups, and no significant differences were detected among the groups (ANT, 20.4 ± 5.5; ANT + SPPE-MP, 24.7 ± 2.7; ANT + FRPE-MP, 24.6 ± 4.7 µg/g). However, co-exposure to anthracene and spherical or fragmented polyethylene microplastics increased the duration of slow swimming in a swimming behavior test (control, 4.1 ± 1.4; ANT, 5.2 ± 2.8; ANT + SPPE-MP, 12.4 ± 3.7; ANT + FRPE-MP, 17.4 ± 5.1 min/30 min), and co-exposure to anthracene and fragmented polyethylene microplastics induced higher cytochrome P4501A monooxygenase (CYP1A) expression in Java medaka livers than the other anthracene exposure groups (ANT, 189 ± 74; ANT + SPPE-MP, 203 ± 75; ANT + FRPE-MP 272 ± 36% of control). Polyethylene microplastics appear to be weak vectors of anthracene at the size tested (200 µm), and the effect of shape (spherical or fragmented) on the vector effect was small. However, the presence of polyethylene microplastics could affect the swimming behavior and CYP1A expression in Java medaka.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Auta HS, Emenike CU, Fauziah SH (2017) Distribution and importance of microplastics in the marine environment: a review of the sources, fate, effects, and potential solutions. Environ Int 102:165–176

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bajt O (2021) From plastics to microplastics and organisms. FEBS Open Bio 11:954–966

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Botterell ZLR, Beaumont N, Cole M et al. (2020) Bioavailability of microplastics to marine zooplankton: effect of shape and infochemicals. Environ Sci Technol 54:12024–12033

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bucheli TD, Fent K (1995) Induction of cytochrome P450 as a biomarker for environmental contamination in aquatic ecosystems. Crit Rev Environ Sci Technol 25:201–268

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Q, Gundlach M, Yang S et al. (2017a) Quantitative investigation of the mechanisms of microplastics and nanoplastics toward zebrafish larvae locomotor activity. Sci Total Environ 584–585:1022–1031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Q, Yin D, Jia Y et al. (2017b) Enhanced uptake of BPA in the presence of nanoplastics can lead to neurotoxic effects in adult zebrafish. Sci Total Environ 609:1312–1321

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gonçalves R, Scholze M, Ferreira AM et al. (2008) The joint effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on fish behavior. Environ Res 108:205–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray AD, Weinstein JE (2017) Size- and shape-dependent effects of microplastics particles on adult daggerblade grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio). Environ Toxicol Chem 36:3074–3080

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Honda M, Suzuki N (2020) Toxicities of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for aquatic animals. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17:1363

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Horie Y, Kanazawa N, Yamagishi T et al. (2018) Ecotoxicological test assay using OECD TG 212 in marine Java medaka (Oryzias javanicus) and freshwater Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes). Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 101:344–348

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Karapanagioti HK, Endo S, Ogata Y, Takada H (2011) Diffuse pollution by persistent organic pollutants as measured in plastic pellets sampled from various beaches in Greece. Mar Pollut Bull 62:312–317

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khan FR, Syberg K, Shashoua Y, Bury NR (2015) Influence of polyethylene microplastics beads on the uptake and localization of silver in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Environ Pollut 206:73–79

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Koyama J, Kawamata M, Imai S et al. (2008) Java medaka: a proposed new marine test fish for ecotoxicology. Environ Toxicol 23:487–491

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kurihara R, Shiraishi F, Tanaka N, Hashimoto S (2005) Presence and estrogenicity of anthracene derivatives in coastal Japanese waters. Environ Toxicol Chem 24:1984–1993

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lin W, Jiang R, Wu J et al. (2019) Sorption properties of hydrophobic organic chemicals to micro-sized polystyrene particles. Sci Total Environ 690:565–572

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y, Qiu X, Xu X et al. (2021) Uptake and depuration kinetics of microplastics with different polymer types and particle sizes in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes). Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 212:112007

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lu K, Qiao R, An H, Zhang Y (2018) Influence of microplastics on the accumulation and chronic toxic effects of cadmium in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Chemosphere 202:514–520

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meijer LJJ, van Emmerik T, van der Ent R et al. (2021) More than 1000 rivers account for 80% of global riverine plastic emissions into the ocean. Sci Adv 7:eaaz5803

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nizzetto L, Lohmann R, Gioia R et al. (2008) PAHs in air and seawater along a North-South Atlantic transect: trends, processes and possible sources. Environ Sci Technol 42:1580–1585

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oliveira M, Ribeiro A, Hylland K, Guilhermino L (2013) Single and combined effects of microplastics and pyrene on juveniles (0+ group) of the common goby Pomatoschistus microps (Teleostei, Gobiidae). Ecol Indic 34:641–647

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Our World in Data (2022) Global plastics production. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/global-plastics-production

  • Qiao R, Deng Y, Zhang S et al. (2019) Accumulation of different shapes of microplastics initiates intestinal injury and gut microbiota dysbiosis in the gut of zebrafish. Chemosphere 236:124334

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu X, Saovany S, Takai Y et al. (2020) Quantifying the vector effects of polyethylene microplastics on the accumulation of anthracene to Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes). Aquat Toxicol 228:105643

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Qu H, Ma R, Wang B et al. (2018) Effects of microplastics on the uptake, distribution and biotransformation of chiral antidepressant venlafaxine in aquatic ecosystem. J Hazard Mater 359:104–112

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2022) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Core Team, Vienna, Austria

  • Romano N, Renukdas N, Fischer H et al. (2020) Differential modulation of oxidative stress, antioxidant defense, histomorphology, ion-regulation and growth marker gene expression in goldfish (Carassius auratus) following exposure to different dose of virgin microplastics. Comp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol 238:108862

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rusni S, Sassa M, Takehana Y et al. (2020) Correlation between cytochrome P450 1A (cyp1a) mRNA expression and ambient phenanthrene and pyrene concentration in Javanese Medaka Oryzias javanicus. Fish Sci 86:605–613

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • SAPEA (2016) A scientific perspective on microplastics in nature and society. SAPEA

  • Sarasquete C, Segner H (2000) Cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) in teleostean fishes. A review of immunohistochemical studies. Sci Total Environ 247:313–332

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scott GR, Sloman KA (2004) The effects of environmental pollutants on complex fish behaviour: integrating behavioural and physiological indicators of toxicity. Aquat Toxicol 68:369–392

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Takai Y, Tokusumi H, Sato M et al. (2022) Combined effect of diazepam and polystyrene microplastics on the social behavior of medaka (Oryzias latipes). Chemosphere 299:134403

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xia X, Sun M, Zhou M et al. (2020) Polyvinyl chloride microplastics induce growth inhibition and oxidative stress in Cyprinus carpio var. larvae. Sci Total Environ 716:136479

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xiong X, Tu Y, Chen X et al. (2019) Ingestion and egestion of polyethylene microplastics by goldfish (Carassius auratus): influence of color and morphological features. Heliyon 5:e03063

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamanaka O, Takeuchi R (2018) UMATracker: an intuitive image-based tracking platform. J Exp Biol 221:jeb182469

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yin L, Chen B, Xia B et al. (2018) Polystyrene microplastics alter the behavior, energy reserve and nutritional composition of marine jacopever (Sebastes schlegelii). J Hazard Mater 360:97–105

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yin L, Liu H, Cui H et al. (2019) Impacts of polystyrene microplastics on the behavior and metabolism in a marine demersal teleost, black rockfish (Sebastes schlegelii). J Hazard Mater 380:120861

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yu Q, Hu X, Yang B et al. (2020) Distribution, abundance and risks of microplastics in the environment. Chemosphere 249:126059

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Nobuyuki Ohkubo (Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency) for generously lending us the plastic cutting mill, which was essential for our experiments. We are deeply grateful to editors from ELSS, Inc. (https://www.elss.co.jp/en/) for English proofreading of the manuscript. This work was partly supported by a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science KAKENHI grant (JP21H05058), a Long-range Research Initiative by the Japan Chemical Industry Association (19_R05-01), and the cooperative research program of the Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology, Kanazawa University (20061).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan

    Yuki Takai, Akiyo Tominaga, Yohei Shimasaki & Yuji Oshima

  2. Botanical Garden, Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa, 920-1192, Japan

    Masato Honda

  3. Institute of Environmental Health and Ecological Security, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, Jiangsu, PR China

    Xuchun Qiu

  4. School of Interdisciplinary Science and Innovation, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan

    Ik Joon Kang

  5. Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa, 920-1192, Japan

    Yuji Oshima

Authors
  1. Yuki Takai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Akiyo Tominaga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Masato Honda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Xuchun Qiu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yohei Shimasaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ik Joon Kang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Yuji Oshima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

YT: conceptualization, formal analysis, investigation, writing—original draft, funding acquisition. AT: conceptualization, formal analysis, investigation. MH: funding acquisition, writing—review and editing. XQ, YS, and IJK: supervision, writing—review and editing. YO: conceptualization, supervision, funding acquisition, writing—review and editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuji Oshima.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

All experiments in this study were carried out according to the Guidelines for Animal Experiments of Kyushu University (license A20-335-0).

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Takai, Y., Tominaga, A., Honda, M. et al. Combined effect of anthracene and polyethylene microplastics on swimming speed and cytochrome P4501A monooxygenase expression of Java medaka (Oryzias javanicus). Ecotoxicology 32, 948–957 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-023-02700-4

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-023-02700-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation