Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, cilt.15, sa.15, ss.1-16, 2024 (SCI-Expanded)
Abstract
Plastics have become an indispensable part of our lives due to their low cost and long lifespan, and their production is
increasing. They are broken down into small structures, such as microplastics and nanoplastics, through different pathways.
Compared to macro-sized plastics, their penetration and transport rates are significantly higher. They can remain without
degradation for many years when released into the environmental habitat. They can be toxic due to the chemical structures
added to provide flexibility or resistance to high and low temperatures during plastic production. Therefore, they can become
an essential pollutant in the ecosystem. They can cause adverse effects on aquatic organisms by disrupting the balance of
various water parameters, causing bioaccumulation in aquatic environments, and threatening the aquatic ecosystem. These
small-sized plastics can cause anomalies in the organs of aquatic organisms. Toxicity is observed in the tissues of fish exposed
to nano and microplastics in aquatic environments. They can cause developmental, reproductive, and gastrointestinal system
disorders, oxidative stress, and toxicity by showing bioaccumulation in the tissues. The effects of these substances on
organisms such as high trophic level fish constantly increase. In recent years, zebrafish and embryos have frequently been
preferred to evaluate the toxic effects of plastics. This review aims to evaluate the effects of micro and nanoplastics, which
pose a risk to ecosystems and organisms due to increasing plastic usage, on zebrafish as a model organism through a series
of systems such as reproductive toxicity, neurotoxicity, locomotor activity, cardiotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, oxidative stress,
and developmental toxicity.