ArticleScientific reports2025
Toxic effects of biodegradable polylactic acid nanoplastics on developing zebrafish (Danio rerio).
Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Plastamination, Human Health, and Countries' Cultural Orientation: An Exploratory Study on Prevention Strategies and Organizational Policies and Practices.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Pooled it
- Swimming in Plastamination: Polylactic Acid (PLA) Nanoplastics Affect Bull Sperm Functions.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Microplastic-induced neurotoxicity in Zebrafish: Current evidence and underlying mechanisms.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Glutamate accumulation in myelofibrosis microenvironment rewires mesenchymal stromal cells metabolic and epigenetic profiles.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Article
- Transcriptomic Insights into Micro- and Nanoplastic Toxicity in Zebrafish: A Narrative Review.Toxics · 2026Review
- Micro- and Nanoplastics Exposure Across the Lifespan: One Health Implications for Aging and Longevity.Journal of xenobiotics · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Plastic contamination represents a significant threat to the environment with potential health risks for all species. Recently, bio-based plastics have been introduced as a green alternative to fossil-based ones. However, bioplastic degradation products present potentially harmful effects comparable to the fossil-based ones. Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the most widely used bioplastics in the world and it requires high temperatures found in industrial composting, to degrade fully. These conditions are not typical of natural environments, where PLA degradation leads to the accumulation of micro- and nanoplastics. According to this finding, the aim of the present study was to assess PLA nanoplastics (PLA-NPs) potential harmful biological effects. PLA-NPs exposure effects have been assessed through the in vivo study on early-stage zebrafish bioaccumulation, cellular stress induction, and morpho-physiology, and through the in vitro study on HDF, used to mimic one of the modes of contamination route in humans, to evaluate their cellular uptake potential. For this purpose, zebrafish embryos were exposed to fluorescent PLA-NPs at the concentrations of 0.1 and 1 mg/L, up to 5 days. In the study, the parallel experiments were conducted by exposing zebrafish embryos to polystyrene MPs (PS-MPs), used as a well-established harmful positive control. No alterations in the Zebrafish Embryo Acute Toxicity Test parameters were found; however, heartbeat rate alteration in the PLA-NPs-treated zebrafish at 96 and 120 hpf have been observed. No remarkable morphological alterations of brain and liver tissue have been detected. The bioaccumulation of PLA-NPs was detectable at 72 and 96 hpf, presumably in the gastrointestinal tract. The gene expression analysis of cellular stress markers (hmox1, nos2, sod1, sod2, il1β, tnfα, il4, il13, infγ, tbx21) showed inflammation and oxidative stress induction in zebrafish at 72 and 120 hpf. Finally, HDF demonstrated uptake potential, suggesting their ability to bypass the dermal human barrier. The obtained results, accompanied by those on the exposure of developing zebrafish, and HDF cells, to the same concentrations of PS-MPs, raise concerns about the biological impact of PLA-based bioplastics and their use as a safe alternative to petroleum-based plastics.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.