title: Effects of multi-stressors on juveniles of the marine fish Pomatoschistus microps: Gold nanoparticles, microplastics and temperature.
abstract: Knowledge on multi-stressors effects required for environmental and human risk assessments is still limited. This study investigated the combined effects of gold nanoparticles (Au-NP), microplastics (MP) and temperature increase on Pomatoschistus microps, an important prey for several higher level predators, including some species edible to humans. Four null hypotheses were tested: H01: P. microps juveniles do not take up Au-NP through the water; H02: Au-NP (ppb range) are not toxic to juveniles; H03: the presence of MP do not influence the effects of Au-NP on juveniles; H04: temperature increase (20-25°C) does not change the effects of the tested chemicals on juveniles. Wild juveniles were acclimated to laboratory conditions. Then, they were exposed to Au-NP (≈5nm diameter) and MP (polyethylene spheres, 1-5μm diameter), alone and in mixture, at 20°C and 25°C, in semi-static conditions. After 96h of exposure to Au-NP, fish had gold in their body (0.129-0.546μg/g w.w.) leading to H01 refusal. Exposure to Au-NP alone caused a predatory performance decrease (≈-39%, p<0.05) leading to H02 refusal. MP did not change the Au-NP toxicity leading to H03 acceptance. Temperature rise significantly increased the concentration of gold in fish exposed to Au-NP (≈2.3 fold), and interacted with chemical effects (e.g. glutathione S-transferases activity) leading to H04 refusal. Thus, the results of this study highlight the importance of further investigating the effects of multi-stressors on marine fish, particularly the effects of temperature on the uptake, biotransformation, elimination and effects of nanoparticles and microplastics, either alone or in mixture. This knowledge is most important to improve the basis for environmental and human risk assessments of these environmental contaminants of high concern.
authors.affiliation: ICBAS-Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Department of Population Studies, Laboratory of Ecotoxicology, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; CIIMAR/CIMAR-LA-Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Research Group of Ecotoxicology, Stress Ecology and Environmental Health, University of Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 289, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: ferreira.pedro.mt@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: ICBAS-Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Department of Population Studies, Laboratory of Ecotoxicology, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; CIIMAR/CIMAR-LA-Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Research Group of Ecotoxicology, Stress Ecology and Environmental Health, University of Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 289, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal; UCIBIO-REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira n° 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: fonte.elsa@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Elsa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fonte
authors.affiliation: UCIBIO-REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira n° 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: mesoares@ff.up.pt.
authors.forename: M Elisa
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.affiliation: UCIBIO-REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira n° 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: felixdc@ff.up.pt.
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.affiliation: ICBAS-Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Department of Population Studies, Laboratory of Ecotoxicology, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; CIIMAR/CIMAR-LA-Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Research Group of Ecotoxicology, Stress Ecology and Environmental Health, University of Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 289, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: lguilher@icbas.up.pt.
authors.forename: Lúcia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guilhermino
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000187:drug effects*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001681:Biological Assay; D002138:Calibration; D003102:Colloids; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism*; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000378:metabolism; D006046:Gold / Q000633:toxicity*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000633:toxicity*; D010316:Particle Size; D010473:Perciformes / Q000378:metabolism; D010969:Plastics / Q000633:toxicity*; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D012996:Solutions; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects*; D013696:Temperature; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids; D010969:Plastics; D012996:Solutions; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D006046:Gold; D005982:Glutathione Transferase; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase
keywords: Biomarkers; Gold nanoparticles; Microplastics; Pomatoschistus microps; Predatory performance; Temperature