Effects of aging microplastics and embedded light stabilizers on extracellular substances secreted by Chlorella vulgaris.

IF 7.2 2区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental Pollution Pub Date : 2026-10-19 DOI:10.1016/j.envpol.2026.129371

Ganning Zeng, Yan Hong, Shixian Wen, Chenlei Dong, Tiansheng Chen, Peirui Liu, Xiangliang Pan

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The environmental release of chemical additives from aging microplastics (MPs) and the associated ecological risks have attracted increasing research attention. Nevertheless, systematic investigations on the biological impacts of light stabilizers leached from aging MPs remain limited. In particular, the divergent toxic impacts of leachates derived from pristine versus aged stabilizer-modified MPs remain poorly elucidated. Herein, a multi-dimensional toxicological evaluation integrating physiological responses, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) secretion, and transcriptomic profiling was conducted. Four typical light stabilizers (TiO₂, HS-944, BP-3, NBC) were compounded with polyethylene (PE) microspheres to construct composite MPs, and Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) was employed as the model aquatic microalgae to explore algal response to leachates from both pristine and aged composite systems, focusing on extracellular secretion and underlying molecular regulatory mechanisms. Results revealed that light stabilizers synchronously released during MPs aging significantly interfered with photosynthetic performance and energy metabolism of C. vulgaris, and profoundly reshaped algal extracellular secretion profiles of proteins, polysaccharides, and their subsequent assembly into transparent exopolymer particles (TEPs). Such toxic disturbances mainly stem from impaired light absorption and transduction by photosynthetic pigments, disordered cell cycle, and oxidative stress-mediated modulation of intracellular signaling cascades and gene expression. As the most toxic agent among the four tested stabilizers, BP-3 exposure exhibited unique dual effects. Pristine BP-3/PE significantly elevated algal mortality and overproduction of extracellular proteins and polysaccharides, whereas aged BP-3/PE composites strongly suppressed TEP formation as a stress-adaptive extracellular response. These findings elucidate the toxicological characteristics and underlying molecular mechanisms of microalgal responses to aging-derived light stabilizer contamination, providing fundamental scientific evidence for the ecological risk management and pollution control of aquatic MPs contaminants.

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老化微塑料及包埋光稳定剂对小球藻胞外物质分泌的影响。

老化微塑料中化学添加剂的环境释放及其生态风险已引起越来越多的研究关注。然而，从衰老MPs中浸出的光稳定剂的生物学影响的系统研究仍然有限。特别是，从原始的和老化的稳定剂修饰的MPs中提取的渗滤液的不同毒性影响仍然没有得到很好的阐明。在此，综合生理反应、细胞外聚合物质（EPS）分泌和转录组学分析进行了多维毒理学评估。将4种典型的光稳定剂（TiO2、HS-944、BP-3、NBC）与聚乙烯（PE）微球复配，构建复合MPs，并以普通小球藻（Chlorella vulgaris）为模型水生微藻，探讨藻类对原始和老化复合体系中渗滤液的反应，重点研究细胞外分泌及其分子调控机制。结果表明，在MPs老化过程中同步释放的光稳定剂显著干扰了C. vulgaris的光合性能和能量代谢，并深刻地改变了藻类细胞外分泌蛋白质、多糖及其随后组装成透明外聚合物颗粒（TEPs）的特征。这些毒性干扰主要源于光合色素的光吸收和转导受损、细胞周期紊乱以及氧化应激介导的细胞内信号级联和基因表达的调节。BP-3作为四种稳定剂中毒性最大的一种，其暴露表现出独特的双重效应。原始BP-3/PE显著提高藻类死亡率和细胞外蛋白质和多糖的过量产生，而老化的BP-3/PE复合材料强烈抑制TEP的形成，这是一种适应压力的细胞外反应。这些发现阐明了微藻对老化性光稳定剂污染的毒理学特征和潜在的分子机制，为水生MPs污染物的生态风险管理和污染控制提供了基础科学依据。

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来源期刊

Environmental Pollution 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

16.00

自引率

6.70%

发文量

2082

审稿时长

2.9 months

期刊介绍： Environmental Pollution is an international peer-reviewed journal that publishes high-quality research papers and review articles covering all aspects of environmental pollution and its impacts on ecosystems and human health. Subject areas include, but are not limited to: • Sources and occurrences of pollutants that are clearly defined and measured in environmental compartments, food and food-related items, and human bodies; • Interlinks between contaminant exposure and biological, ecological, and human health effects, including those of climate change; • Contaminants of emerging concerns (including but not limited to antibiotic resistant microorganisms or genes, microplastics/nanoplastics, electronic wastes, light, and noise) and/or their biological, ecological, or human health effects; • Laboratory and field studies on the remediation/mitigation of environmental pollution via new techniques and with clear links to biological, ecological, or human health effects; • Modeling of pollution processes, patterns, or trends that is of clear environmental and/or human health interest; • New techniques that measure and examine environmental occurrences, transport, behavior, and effects of pollutants within the environment or the laboratory, provided that they can be clearly used to address problems within regional or global environmental compartments.