Toxicity Evaluation of the Combination of Emerging Pollutants with Microplastics in Zebrafish : Perspective Study of Genotoxicity, Mutagenicity and Redox Unbalance

We aimed to test the hypothesis that the association of polyethylene MPs (PE-MPs) to a mix of emerging pollutants induces more adverse genotoxic, mutagenic, and redox unbalance effects in zebrafish, after 15 days of exposure. Although the accumulation of MPs in animals was greater in animals exposed to PE-MPs alone, erythrocyte DNA damage and the frequency of ENAs evidenced in zebrafish exposed to PE- MPs alone were as pronounced as those observed in animals exposed to the mix of pollutant (alone or in combination with MPs). Moreover, we noticed that such effects were associated with an imbalance between pro- and antioxidant metabolism in animals, whose activity of SOD and CAT assessed in different organs which was not sufficient to counterbalance the production of reactive oxygen species and nitrogen evaluated. The main component analysis (PCA) also revealed that while the antioxidant activity was more pronounced in the brain and liver of animals, the highest production of H2O2 was perceived in the gills and muscles, suggesting that the biochemical response of the animals was organ-dependent. Thus, the present study did not demonstrate antagonistic, synergistic, or additive effects on animals exposed to the combination between PE-MPs and a mix of pollutants in zebrafish