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Occurrence, analysis, and toxicity of polyethylene terephthalate microplastics: a review
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This review focuses on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the most common types of plastic found as microplastic contamination in food, beverages, dust, wildlife, and human tissues. The authors found major inconsistencies in how researchers measure and detect PET microplastics, making it difficult to accurately assess health risks. Better standardized methods are needed to understand the true scope of PET contamination.
Abstract Global microplastic contamination of almost all biological and environmental media is an emerging threat to human health that recently fostered intense research. Here, we review polyethylene terephthalate with focus on microplastics, characteristics, uses, concentration, degradation, toxicity, and remediation. Plastic remediation can be done by landfills, incineration, pyrolysis, and biodegradation. We present microplastic occurrence in food, beverages, dust, wildlife, and human tissues. We observed inconsistencies in measurement techniques, limitations in detection reliability, and gaps in risk assessment.
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Small particles, large questions: unravelling the toxicity and potential health risks of PET micro-/nanoplastics
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A comprehensive literature review of PET micro- and nanoplastics found consistent evidence of human exposure, detection in human tissues, and biological effects including oxidative stress, inflammation, metabolic disruption, and genotoxicity, with smaller particles showing greater cellular uptake and biodistribution. Significant gaps in protocol harmonization and realistic exposure modeling currently prevent robust quantitative risk assessment of PET microplastic health impacts.
Microplastics in ecosystems: Critical review of occurrence, distribution, toxicity, fate, transport, and advances in experimental and computational studies in surface and subsurface water
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This review provides a broad overview of microplastic contamination across freshwater, marine, and land environments, finding concentrations ranging from negligible to hundreds of thousands of particles per kilogram of sediment. The most common types are polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene, and PET, spread by wastewater discharge, stormwater runoff, and poor waste management. The wide variability in contamination levels makes it difficult to assess overall risk to ecosystems and human health.
A review on microplastics in mammalian feces: Monitoring techniques and associated challenges
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Researchers reviewed how microplastics appear in the feces of humans, dogs, cats, and marine mammals, finding PET plastic to be the most common type across species. Analyzing feces offers a non-invasive way to track how much plastic organisms are ingesting, which could help guide environmental health policies.
Microplastics and nanoplastics in food, water, and beverages; part I. occurrence
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Researchers reviewed what is currently known about the presence of microplastics and nanoplastics in food, water, and beverages, concluding that while contamination has been detected across many products, a lack of standardized detection methods makes it difficult to fully assess the food safety risks to human health.
Microplastics and nanoplastics: Exposure and toxicological effects require important analysis considerations
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This review highlights that while microplastics and nanoplastics have been found in human tissues and linked to several diseases, the actual toxic effects are still unclear because researchers use very different methods to study them. The authors call for standardized testing approaches so that results can be compared reliably, which is critical for determining what levels of exposure actually pose a risk to human health.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.