Effects of Tire Wear Particle on growth, extracellular polymeric substance production and oxidation stress of algae Chlorella vulgaris: performance and mechanism

Abstract

Tire wear particles (TWP) represent a distinctive form of microplastics (MPs) that are widely distributed in aquatic ecosystems. However, the toxicity of various types of TWP on phytoplankton remain to be further explored. Thus, three different TWPs originating from replaced bicycle, car, and electro-mobile tire (marked as BTWP, CTWP, and ETWP) were selected and their long-term biological influences on Chlorella vulgaris were investigated. Results demonstrated TWPs showed a concentration-dependent growth promotion of Chlorella vulgaris, with a maximum promotion rate reached to 40.51% (10 mg/L, 10 d), 23.5% (80 mg/L, 12 d), and 28.7% (20 mg/L, 12 d) in the presence of BTWP, CTWP and ETWP, respectively. Meanwhile, TWPs could stimulate the secretion of EPS and induce oxidative stress. EPS analysis revealed the increase of polysaccharides could protect the cell from the direct contact with TWP particles. Moreover, the increased concentration of EPS also helps to induce the settlement of TWP and reduce the leachate release. The release of TWP into the environment could act as an accelerator for the growth of Chlorella vulgaris, which might further change the normal physicochemical behaviors of algae colony in aquatic system. Our findings provide new insights into the toxicity mechanism of TWPs on freshwater algae and valuable data on environmental risk assessment of TWPs.