Abstract
Take-away containers are the common food contact materials (FCMs) that are widely used in daily life. However, little is known regarding the effects of different food simulants on the pollution characteristics of microplastics derived from food containers, as well as the toxic effects of the chemical substances that are leached from them. Extracts were obtained by adding organic solvents into plastic containers (polypropylene, PP; polystyrene, PS) to simulate aqueous, alcoholic, and fatty environments. The extracted substances and their toxic effects were then assessed by counting and characterizing the resulting microplastics and performing bio-acute toxicity assays. The results demonstrated that the highest abundance of microplastics occurred in PS containers in fatty environments, which was likely due to the rough surface of the PS. In contrast, organic solvents seemed more conducive to the migration of substances. Furthermore, the PP and PS extracts in an alcohol and fatty environment have significant impacts on zebrafish embryo development, including arrhythmia, pericardial cysts, and spinal curvature.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank laboratory facilities from Changzhou University. The authors would like to thank Xia Xu for valuable advices during the planning and realization of this study.
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This work was supported by grants from the Nation Natural Science Foundation of China (21607017).
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Xia Xu: conceptualization, validation, formal analysis, funding acquisition, project administration, writing—review and editing. Jun Guo: methodology, data curation, investigation, writing—original draft. Yu Gao: data curation, software. Yingang Xue: funding acquisition, project administration, supervision, writing—review and editing. Ling Zhang: data curation, software. Qiuya Zhang: conceptualization, methodology. Mingguo Peng: project administration.
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Xu, X., Guo, J., Gao, Y. et al. Leaching behavior and evaluation of zebrafish embryo toxicity of microplastics and phthalates in take-away plastic containers. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 21104–21114 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-23675-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-23675-5