Plastics, Water-Soluble Polymers and Rubberized Materials: Ecotoxicological Aspects in the Aquatic Environments

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

We propose a Topic about the impacts of conventional and non-conventional plastics in the aquatic ecosystems. This Topic will group scientific peer-review articles from Journal of Xenobiotics, Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, Water, Toxics and Microplastics.

In the last years a great attention has been posed by scientific community on the environmental impact of plastics on the aquatic environments. However, other investigations are needed in this field, especially in freshwater ecosystems, to better characterized both the presence and toxicity of these emerging pollutants in the continental areas, which represent the main plastic source toward Oceans.

On the other hand, despite the pollution of conventional plastics start to be well known, some controversial substances, represented by the so-called Water-Soluble Polymers (WSPs), need more attention from the ecotoxicological point of view. Indeed, being water-soluble, these polymers escape from the current legislations to contain (micro and nano)plastic pollution, and very few evidence is available in scientific literature about their environmental toxicity. In this context, also the tire particles are not grouped among conventional plastics, being rubber of natural origin, and they require more ecotoxicological investigation due to the plethora of toxic chemicals adsorb by these physical pollutants during the activity of transport means.

Based on these brief considerations, the aim of the proposed Topic is the grouping of articles that answer to the following key questions: (i) Monitoring of conventional plastics in the aquatic environments, with particular attention to fresh- and marine waters (ii) Identification of new suitable methods for the monitoring of non-conventional plastics, as WSPs and tire particles, whose detection is negatively affected by the lack of analytical methodologies (iii) Evaluation of adverse effects of both conventional and non-conventional plastics on aquatic species using biomarkers, “omics” techniques and standardized ecotoxicological tests.

Research papers, reviews and short communications will be accepted in this field.

Dr. Stefano Magni
Dr. François Gagné
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering jmse	2.7	4.4	2013	16.4 Days	CHF 2600	Submit
Journal of Xenobiotics jox	6.8	5.3	2011	28 Days	CHF 1600	Submit
Microplastics microplastics	-	-	2022	27.5 Days	CHF 1000	Submit
Toxics toxics	3.9	4.5	2013	18.3 Days	CHF 2600	Submit
Water water	3.0	5.8	2009	17.5 Days	CHF 2600	Submit

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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All JMSE JoX Microplastics Toxics Water

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Supplementary material:
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21 pages, 5045 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Toxicity of Micro, Nano, and Leachate Fractions of Three Rubber Materials to Freshwater Species: Zebrafish and Daphnia

by Miranda E. Jackson, Bryan J. Harper, Manuel Garcia-Jaramillo and Stacey L. Harper

Microplastics 2025, 4(1), 8; https://doi.org/10.3390/microplastics4010008 - 11 Feb 2025

Viewed by 987

Abstract

Rubber materials enter aquatic environments by stormwater runoff via sources such as playground mulch, athletic fields, and roadway surfaces. Tire rubbers are considered plastics as they comprise a substantial portion of synthetic polymers. Rubber particles are complex and variable depending on the type, [...] Read more.

Rubber materials enter aquatic environments by stormwater runoff via sources such as playground mulch, athletic fields, and roadway surfaces. Tire rubbers are considered plastics as they comprise a substantial portion of synthetic polymers. Rubber particles are complex and variable depending on the type, source, and age of rubber. In this study, zebrafish embryos and daphnids were exposed to nano-scale or micro-scale particles, or leachate from recycled rubber (RR), crumb rubber (CR), and cryo-milled tire tread (CMTT). Zebrafish embryos were evaluated for lethal and sub-lethal effects over a 120 h exposure, while daphnids were tested over a 48 h period. Nano-scale RR, CR, and CMTT particles elicited a hatch delay in zebrafish embryos with similar EC₅₀ values (1.3 × 10⁹–1.4 × 10⁹ particles/mL). Micro-scale particles did not elicit any significant effects in developing zebrafish. Nano-scale particles of all rubber materials significantly increased hatch delay compared to leachate, suggesting an adverse nanoparticle effect unexplained by chemical leaching alone, indicating tire particle-specific effects. Daphnia RR micro- and nanoparticle exposures resulted in mortality, with LC₅₀ values of 9.8 × 10⁵ microparticles/mL and 5.0 × 10⁸ nanoparticles/mL, respectively. Leachate exposures did not elicit significant Daphnia mortality. Sublethal micro- and nano-TP exposures significantly decreased microalgae ingestion by Daphnia after 24 h. The effects of tire-derived exposures observed pose a risk to aquatic organism survival at environmentally relevant concentrations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Plastics, Water-Soluble Polymers and Rubberized Materials: Ecotoxicological Aspects in the Aquatic Environments)

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11 pages, 1533 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Plastic Analysis with a Plasmonic Nano-Gold Sensor Coated with Plastic-Binding Peptides

by Francois Gagné, Maxime Gauthier and Chantale André

J. Xenobiot. 2024, 14(2), 690-700; https://doi.org/10.3390/jox14020040 - 1 Jun 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1297

Abstract

Contamination with plastics of small dimensions (<1 µm) represents a health concern for many terrestrial and aquatic organisms. This study examined the use of plastic-binding peptides as a coating probe to detect various types of plastic using a plasmon nano-gold sensor. Plastic-binding peptides [...] Read more.

Contamination with plastics of small dimensions (<1 µm) represents a health concern for many terrestrial and aquatic organisms. This study examined the use of plastic-binding peptides as a coating probe to detect various types of plastic using a plasmon nano-gold sensor. Plastic-binding peptides were selected for polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) based on the reported literature. Using nAu with each of these peptides to test the target plastics revealed high signal, at 525/630 nm, suggesting that the target plastic limited HCl-induced nAu aggregation. Testing with other plastics revealed some lack of specificity but the signal was always lower than that of the target plastic. This suggests that these peptides, although reacting mainly with their target plastic, show partial reactivity with the other target plastics. By using a multiple regression model, the relative levels of a given plastic could be corrected by the presence of other plastics. This approach was tested in freshwater mussels caged for 3 months at sites suspected to release plastic materials: in rainfall overflow discharges, downstream a largely populated city, and in a municipal effluent dispersion plume. The data revealed that the digestive glands of the mussels contained higher levels of PP, PE, and PET plastic particles at the rainfall overflow and downstream city sites compared to the treated municipal effluent site. This corroborated earlier findings that wastewater treatment could remove nanoparticles, at least in part. A quick and inexpensive screening test for plastic nanoparticles in biological samples with plasmonic nAu-peptides is proposed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Plastics, Water-Soluble Polymers and Rubberized Materials: Ecotoxicological Aspects in the Aquatic Environments)

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14 pages, 2145 KiB  

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Micro and Nanoplastic Contamination and Its Effects on Freshwater Mussels Caged in an Urban Area

by François Gagné, Eva Roubeau-Dumont, Chantale André and Joëlle Auclair

J. Xenobiot. 2023, 13(4), 761-774; https://doi.org/10.3390/jox13040048 - 5 Dec 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2080

Abstract

Plastic-based contamination has become a major cause of concern as it pervades many environments such as air, water, sediments, and soils. This study sought to examine the presence of microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) in freshwater mussels placed at rainfall/street runoff overflows, downstream [...] Read more.

Plastic-based contamination has become a major cause of concern as it pervades many environments such as air, water, sediments, and soils. This study sought to examine the presence of microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) in freshwater mussels placed at rainfall/street runoff overflows, downstream (15 km) of the city centre of Montréal, and 8 km downstream of a municipal effluent dispersion plume. MPs and NPs were determined using flow cytometry and size exclusion chromatography using fluorescence detection. Following 3 months of exposure during the summer season, mussels contained elevated amounts of both MPs and NPs. The rainfall overflow and downstream of the city centre were the most contaminated sites. Lipid peroxidation, metallothioneins, and protein aggregates (amyloids) were significantly increased at the most contaminated sites and were significantly correlated with NPs in tissues. Based on the levels of MPs and NPs in mussels exposed to municipal effluent, wastewater treatment plants appear to mitigate plastic contamination albeit not completely. In conclusion, the data support the hypothesis that mussels placed in urbanized areas are more contaminated by plastics, which are associated with oxidative damage. The highest responses observed at the overflow site suggest that tire wear and/or asphalt (road) erosion MPs/NPs represent important sources of contamination for the aquatic biota. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Plastics, Water-Soluble Polymers and Rubberized Materials: Ecotoxicological Aspects in the Aquatic Environments)

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16 pages, 927 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Plastic Contamination in Seabass and Seabream from Off-Shore Aquaculture Facilities from the Mediterranean Sea

by Giacomo Mosconi, Sara Panseri, Stefano Magni, Renato Malandra, Alfonsina D’Amato, Marina Carini, Luca Chiesa and Camilla Della Torre

J. Xenobiot. 2023, 13(4), 625-640; https://doi.org/10.3390/jox13040040 - 25 Oct 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2708

Abstract

We characterized the presence of plastics in different organs of the gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) and European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) from some off-shore aquaculture facilities of the Mediterranean Sea. Plastics were detected in 38% of analyzed fish. Higher contamination [...] Read more.

We characterized the presence of plastics in different organs of the gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) and European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) from some off-shore aquaculture facilities of the Mediterranean Sea. Plastics were detected in 38% of analyzed fish. Higher contamination was observed in fish from Turkey and Greece with respect to Italy, without significant differences between the geographical areas. Plastics accumulated mostly in the gastrointestinal tract and, to a lower extent, in the muscle, which represents the edible part of fish. Based on the particle detected, a maximum amount of 0.01 plastic/g wet weight (w.w.) can occur in muscles, suggesting a low input for humans through consumption. A large portion of the particles identified was represented by man-made cellulose-based fibers. The characterization of the polymeric composition suggests that plastics taken up by fish can have land-based and pelagic origins, but plastics can be introduced also from different aquaculture practices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Plastics, Water-Soluble Polymers and Rubberized Materials: Ecotoxicological Aspects in the Aquatic Environments)

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