Influence of microplastics on triclosan bioaccumulation and metabolomics variation in Tilapia fish tissues

Microplastics (MPs) and chemical pollutants usually coexist in aquatic environments. The bioaccumulation and metabolism of pollutants in aquatic organisms can be influenced by MPs. In this study, the bioaccumulation of triclosan (TCS) in tilapia tissues was determined, and metabolomics in the liver, gills, and gut were investigated after 10-day exposure to micro-sized polystyrene (PS) and TCS in water. The results showed that TCS bioaccumulated in various tissues, with the highest average concentration of 2728 ± 577 ng g−1 in the gut. The log bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) for TCS in these tissues were in the range of 0.99–3.56. Compared to the TCS treatment alone, MPs showed enhancement on the bioaccumulation of TCS in tilapia skin, liver, gut, gills, and stomach tissues in the TCS plus MP exposure. Especially in the skin and liver, the TCS concentrations were up to 2.06 and 1.38 times higher in the co-exposure of TCS and MPs, respectively. Based on the metabolomic analysis, MPs mainly disturbed the lipid and energy metabolism in tilapia fish. The altered metabolites between treatment with TCS alone and TCS + MPs were consistent, indicating that TCS has stronger disturbance in lipid and energy metabolism than MPs. This implies that the metabolism influence by the mixture of MPs and compounds is complicated in fish tissues.