Submicron polymer particles may mask the presence of toxicants in wastewater effluents probed by reporter gene containing bacteria

Microplastics are ubiquitous in aquatic systems and break down into submicron particles that can interact with aquatic toxic chemicals. These interactions may affect the detection of toxicants when using bacteria as a biomonitoring tool. This study examined the effects of model polystyrene (PS)-based submicron particles on the detection of aqueous geno- and cytotoxicity by genetically modified bioluminescent (GMB) bacteria. The toxicities were tested in three treated wastewater (TWW) effluents before and after chlorination. The PS plastics included negatively charged sulfate-coated (S-PS) and pristine (P-PS) particles of different sizes (0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 µm) that were present at different concentrations. Chlorinated or not, the S-PS and P-PS particles per se were not toxic to the GMB bacteria. However, exposure of PS particles to TWW effluents can significantly reduce the measured geno- and cytotoxicity. Adsorption of toxic compounds to polymer particles can limit the ability of the bacteria to detect those compounds. This masking effect may be mitigated by TWW chlorination, possibly due to the formation of new toxic material. Due to interactions between toxic TWW constituents and the plastics particles, water samples containing particle-associated contaminants and/or their transformation products may be declared non-toxic, based on bacterial tests as a biomonitoring tool.