A Bit Fishy In the Head

Plastic particles have become a widespread problem throughout the environment and have been found to affect many wildlife through digestion or entanglement. One alarming problem that eludes many is the pieces of plastic that we are unable to see, called nanoparticles. These particles are an even more alarming threat due to being able to cross biological barriers and also be eaten by microscopic organisms. This directly poses a great threat to all marine life since. In a study done by Mattson et al., they were examining these plastic nanoparticles on the behavior of fish. This was done by administering different sizes of nanoparticles in conjunction with algae for a zooplanktonic species called Daphnia magna. The top consumer which was Crucian carp (Carassius carassius) which fed on the algae. This allowed the researchers to observe the effects of these nanoparticles on fishes behavior since the nanoparticles would be absorbed into the carps’ bloodstream. Through this study the researchers were able to discover that there was a shorter lifespan for D. magna that consumed the nanoparticles of plastic, compared to the control which did not. C. carassius began to display unusual behaviors when compared to the control. This included factors such as feeding time and fish exploration after feeding. A CytoViva Hyperspectral Imaging System was used and there were indeed nanoparticles of plastic in the brains of C. carassius. This goes to show that we may be starting to affect the environment in more ways than we could have imagined.

These graphs demonstrate the fishes exposed to plastic nanoparticles at different sizes. They are compared against each other in order to determine how much the behaviors of each deviates from the control.

Article From:
Tommy C., Lars-Amders H., Elyse J., Sara L., Anders M., Karin M. Brain damage and behavioral disorders in fish induced by plastic nanoparticles delivered through the food chain. Nature 2017; e-pub ahead of print 13 September 2017, doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-10813-0