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1. Direct observation and identification of nanoplastics in ocean water

   https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adh1675  

   Moon, Seunghyun; Martin, Leisha_M A; Kim, Seongmin; Zhang, Qiushi; Zhang, Renzheng; Xu, Wei; Luo, Tengfei (January 2024, Science Advances)

   Millions of tons of plastics enter the oceans yearly, and they can be fragmented by ultraviolet and mechanical means into nanoplastics. Here, we report the direct observation of nanoplastics in global ocean water leveraging a unique shrinking surface bubble deposition (SSBD) technique. SSBD involves optically heating plasmonic nanoparticles to form a surface bubble and leveraging the Marangoni flow to concentrate suspended nanoplastics onto the surface, allowing direct visualization using electron microscopy. With the plasmonic nanoparticles co-deposited in SSBD, the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy effect is enabled for direct chemical identification of trace amounts of nanoplastics. In the water samples from two oceans, we observed nanoplastics made of nylon, polystyrene, and polyethylene terephthalate—all common in daily consumables. The plastic particles have diverse morphologies, such as nanofibers, nanoflakes, and ball-stick nanostructures. These nanoplastics may profoundly affect marine organisms, and our results can provide critical information for appropriately designing their toxicity studies. 

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2. Nanoplastics Weathering and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Mobilization

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.2c12224  

   Schiferle, Erik B.; Ge, Wenxu; Reinhard, Björn M. (March 2023, ACS Nano)
3. Accumulation of Nanoplastics in Biomphalaria glabrata Embryos and Transgenerational Developmental Effects

   https://doi.org/10.3390/environments12010028  

   Martin, Leisha; Armendarez, Carly; Merrill, Mackenzie; Huang, Chi; Xu, Wei (January 2025, Environments)

   (1) Background: Nanoplastics are emerging environmental pollutants with potential toxic effects on aquatic organisms. This study investigates the toxicity of NPs in Biomphalaria glabrata, a freshwater snail species widely used as a bioindicator species in ecotoxicology studies.; (2) Methods: We exposed three generations (F0–F2) of B. glabrata snail embryos to different sizes of polystyrene nanoparticles and assessed responses.; (3) Results: We observed severe effects on F0 to F2 B. glabrata embryos, including size-dependent (30 to 500 nm) increases in mortality rates, size and dosage-dependent (1 to 100 ppm) effects on hatching rates with concentration-dependent toxicity in the 30 nm exposure group. The F2 generation embryos appear to be most responsive to detoxification (CYP450) and pollutant metabolism (HSP70) at 48-h-post-treatment (HPT), while our developmental marker (MATN1) was highly upregulated at 96-HPT. We also report a particle-size-dependent correlation in HSP70 and CYP450 mRNA expression, as well as enhanced upregulation in the offspring of exposed snails. We also observed significant reductions in hatching rates for F2.; (4) Conclusions: These findings indicate that F2 generation embryos appear to exhibit increased stress from toxic substances inherited from their parents and grandparents (F1 and F0). This study provides valuable insights into the impact of plastic particulate pollution on multiple generations and highlights the importance of monitoring and mitigating plastic waste. 

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4. Critical gaps in nanoplastics research and their connection to risk assessment

   https://doi.org/10.3389/ftox.2023.1154538  

   Cunningham, Brittany E; Sharpe, Emma E; Brander, Susanne M; Landis, Wayne G; Harper, Stacey L (April 2023, Frontiers in Toxicology)

   Reports of plastics, at higher levels than previously thought, in the water that we drink and the air that we breathe, are generating considerable interest and concern. Plastics have been recorded in almost every environment in the world with estimates on the order of trillions of microplastic pieces. Yet, this may very well be an underestimate of plastic pollution as a whole. Once microplastics (<5 mm) break down in the environment, they nominally enter the nanoscale (<1,000 nm), where they cannot be seen by the naked eye or even with the use of a typical laboratory microscope. Thus far, research has focused on plastics in the macro- (>25 mm) and micro-size ranges, which are easier to detect and identify, leaving large knowledge gaps in our understanding of nanoplastic debris. Our ability to ask and answer questions relating to the transport, fate, and potential toxicity of these particles is disadvantaged by the detection and identification limits of current technology. Furthermore, laboratory exposures have been substantially constrained to the study of commercially available nanoplastics; i.e., polystyrene spheres, which do not adequately reflect the composition of environmental plastic debris. While a great deal of plastic-focused research has been published in recent years, the pattern of the work does not answer a number of key factors vital to calculating risk that takes into account the smallest plastic particles; namely, sources, fate and transport, exposure measures, toxicity and effects. These data are critical to inform regulatory decision making and to implement adaptive management strategies that mitigate risk to human health and the environment. This paper reviews the current state-of-the-science on nanoplastic research, highlighting areas where data are needed to establish robust risk assessments that take into account plastics pollution. Where nanoplastic-specific data are not available, suggested substitutions are indicated. 

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5. Atmospheric emission of nanoplastics from sewer pipe repairs

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01219-9  

   Morales, Ana C.; Tomlin, Jay M.; West, Christopher P.; Rivera-Adorno, Felipe A.; Peterson, Brianna N.; Sharpe, Steven A.; Noh, Yoorae; Sendesi, Seyedeh M.; Boor, Brandon E.; Howarter, John A.; et al (November 2022, Nature Nanotechnology)