Tiny Plastic Troubles: How Sun-Aged Nanoplastics Mess with Fish Healing

Nanoplastics are tiny bits of plastic that are causing big problems in water environments. They often get weathered by the sun, making them even more harmful. Fish, which can usually heal their tails pretty well, are now struggling because of these aged nanoplastics. Scientists did an experiment with goldfish. They exposed the fish to different amounts of sun-aged polystyrene nanoplastics. The fish were then watched to see how well their tails healed over time. The results were not good. The more nanoplastics the fish were exposed to, the worse their healing got.At low levels of nanoplastics, the fish could handle the stress. But at higher levels, things went wrong. The fish had too many free radicals, which messed up their immune system and made it hard for their tails to grow back properly. This is because the nanoplastics messed with important genes that help with healing. This study shows that nanoplastics can really harm fish. They can stop fish from healing properly, which is bad for their health and the health of the whole ecosystem. It's a big deal because it shows how tiny plastic bits can have huge effects on nature.