https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2978611/view

Microplastics in freshwater and terrestrial environments: Evaluating the current understanding to identify the knowledge gaps and future research priorities.

Microplastics in freshwaters and drinking water: Critical review and assessment of data quality.

Microplastics in freshwater systems: A review on occurrence, environmental effects, and methods for microplastics detection.

The accumulation of plastic litter in natural environments is a global issue. Concerns over potential negative impacts on the economy, wildlife, and human health provide strong incentives for improving the sustainable use of plastics. Despite the many voices raised on the issue, we lack a consensus on how to define and categorize plastic debris. This is evident for microplastics, where inconsistent size classes are used and where the materials to be included are under debate. While this is inherent in an emerging research field, an ambiguous terminology results in confusion and miscommunication that may compromise progress in research and mitigation measures. Therefore, we need to be explicit on what exactly we consider plastic debris. Thus, we critically discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a unified terminology, propose a definition and categorization framework, and highlight areas of uncertainty. Going beyond size classes, our framework includes physicochemical properties (polymer composition, solid state, solubility) as defining criteria and size, shape, color, and origin as classifiers for categorization. Acknowledging the rapid evolution of our knowledge on plastic pollution, our framework will promote consensus building within the scientific and regulatory community based on a solid scientific foundation.

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Are We Speaking the Same Language? Recommendations for a Definition and Categorization Framework for Plastic Debris.

Microplastic particles cause intestinal damage and other adverse effects in zebrafish Danio rerio and nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.

Microplastics in Taihu Lake, China

Uptake, accumulation and elimination of polystyrene microspheres in tadpoles of Xenopus tropicalis.

Pharmaceuticals have been recognized as a continuing threat to environmental stability. Few experimental data are available for the effects of clotrimazole and amiodarone on the ecological environment. An acute test with embryos and a chronic test with larvae of amphibian (Xenopus tropicalis) were thus conducted to determine the influence of clotrimazole or amiodarone on early amphibian development. In acute test, % survival and the body length were numerically decreased by both pharmaceuticals treatments compared to control. In chronic test, the cumulative mortality was 22.2% with 0.1 µg L−1 clotrimazole treatment and 21.7% with 1 µg L−1 amiodarone. The whole body length and the biomass were significantly decreased and developmental stages significantly delayed by both pharmaceuticals. The results of our study suggest that clotrimazole exerted adverse effects on larvae of X. tropicalis at environmentally relevant concentrations.

Effects of clotrimazole and amiodarone on early development of amphibian ( Xenopus tropicalis )

The frog embryo teratogenesis assay-Xenopus (FETAX) is an established method to evaluate the developmental toxicity of chemicals. In FETAX, a 48 h continuous exposure is usually conducted when the X. tropicalis embryo is used as the test model. In the present study, we exposed X. tropicalis embryos to nine known teratogens for four separate 12-h periods. The embryos showed great variations in response to nine tested compounds during different exposure periods. Based on the value of the score of malformations, the most sensitive 12 h exposure periods of embryos were significantly distinguished for all the compounds with the exception of NiCl2. The embryos were the most sensitive to retinols (e.g. all-trans-retinoic acid and 9-cis-retinoic acid) during 0–12 h and to metal compounds (e.g. triphenlytin and CdCl2) during a 24 to 36 h exposure period. In the further 3 h exposure experiment, the most sensitive period could only be determined for one of three tested compounds. Based on the present results, we proposed an assay to determine a 12 h sensitive window of embryos to chemical exposure using Xenopus tropicalis. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An assay to determine the sensitive window of embryos to chemical exposure using Xenopus tropicalis

Occurrence, seasonal variations, and eco-risk of currently using organochlorine pesticides in surface seawater of the East China Sea and Western Pacific Ocean.

Yingang Xue

Papers

Microplastics in Taihu Lake, China

Uptake, accumulation and elimination of polystyrene microspheres in tadpoles of Xenopus tropicalis.

Effects of clotrimazole and amiodarone on early development of amphibian ( Xenopus tropicalis )

An assay to determine the sensitive window of embryos to chemical exposure using Xenopus tropicalis

Occurrence, seasonal variations, and eco-risk of currently using organochlorine pesticides in surface seawater of the East China Sea and Western Pacific Ocean.