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Micro- and Nanoplastics and Fetal Health: Challenges in Assessment and Evidence from Epidemiological Studies
Summary
This review examines the emerging evidence that micro- and nanoplastics can reach the developing fetus during pregnancy, with animal studies showing potential effects on neurological development and placental blood flow. The study also highlights major challenges in accurately detecting and measuring these tiny particles in biological tissues from mothers and babies. The authors call for standardized methods and more human studies to better understand the risks of prenatal microplastic exposure.
The usage of plastics in life and industrial applications has led to global environmental pollution by micro- and nanoplastics (MPs/NPs). Despite their widespread occurrence in the environment, little is known about their presence in humans and the potential implications for human health, particularly maternal and fetal health during the prenatal and neonatal periods. Studies on experimental animals indicate that exposure to MPs/NPs can lead to neurological abnormalities in offspring and hemodynamic alterations in the placenta and fetal cerebral arteries. These findings underscore the need for further epidemiological studies that examine the effects of MPs/NPs on fetal health during pregnancy, a critical period for neurological development. This review summarizes the existing knowledge on the effects of prenatal exposure to MPs/NPs on fetal development and birth outcomes in humans and provides a detailed overview of the challenges encountered in contamination prevention, quality assurance and quality control in analytical procedures. It also discusses the sampling and digestion methods used for the extraction of MPs/NPs from biological samples of maternal and fetal origin, highlighting the difficulties associated with accurately quantifying these particles in complex biological matrices, identifying the gaps in current research, and suggesting recommendations to improve methodologies for assessing the risks associated with prenatal MP/NP exposure.