Advancing microplastic detection in zebrafish with micro computed tomography: A novel approach to revealing microplastic distribution in organisms
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Date
2025-05-05
Authors
Parobková, Viktória
Maleček, Lukáš
Zemek, Marek
Kalčíková, Gabriela
Vykypělová, Michaela
Buchtová, Marcela
Adamovský, Ondřej
Zikmund, Tomáš
Kaiser, Jozef
0009-0004-7996-8328Advisor
Referee
Mark
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
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Abstract
The analysis of microplastics with current spectroscopic and pyrolytic methods is reaching its limits, especially with regard to detailed spatial distribution in biological tissues. This limitation hampers a comprehensive understanding of the effects of microplastics on organisms. Therefore, there is a pressing need to expand the analytical approaches to study microplastics in biota. In this context, the aim of this study was to test the applicability of non-destructive 3D imaging using X-ray micro-computed tomography (microCT) for the detection of microplastics in fish. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) were gavaged with polyethylene spherical microplastics (30-110 mu m) and the distribution of microplastics in the gut was investigated using microCT. The results showed that the particle size distribution determined by microCT closely matched the data from conventional laser diffraction analysis. In addition, microCT was able to detect microplastics in spiked fish tissue and provide precise localization data by tracing particles of known type and shape. MicroCT offers a novel approach for tracking microplastics in organisms and enables accurate sizing without compromising the integrity of the tissue under investigation. It therefore represents a valuable addition to spectroscopic methods, which are widely used for the detection of microplastics based on their chemical composition but do not provide data on their spatial distribution.
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Citation
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS. 2025, vol. 488, issue 5, p. 1-12.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389425003541
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389425003541
Document type
Peer-reviewed
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Published version
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Language of document
en