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Review of microplastics fate in humans with a focus on the urinary system
Summary
This review examined the evidence for microplastic accumulation and effects in the human urinary system, compiling studies on renal and bladder tissue detection. The authors identified the urinary tract as a poorly studied route for microplastic excretion and a potential site of chronic low-level injury.
The prominence of microplastics as an emerging pollutant of concern, has made their studies in various environmental bodies a vital research concern to many researchers all over the world. Microplastics are often consumed by animals directly or indirectly in the food chain, for example in marine trophic chains where small fish eat pollutants like microplastics and they are eaten by big fish, making their way into human consumption. The higher we go on food chain the concentration of pollutants increases. In this study microplastics were assessed and their fate was reviewed the in human body focusing on urinary system. To trace the pathway of microplastics in human body, samples were collected from 9 healthy individuals following a contamination free sample collection protocol. The samples were filtered on a cellulose acetate filter of pore size 0.45 μm. The filtration process was setup under laminar hood cabinet to prevent any external contamination from microplastics present in air. The samples were then dried and dyed from Nile Red. A dye that results in florescence of non-polar molecules under UV light, in this case microplastics. Samples were analyzed under Olympus fluorescence microscope that was able to capture images and provide measurements of microplastic particles in the samples. Evidences of microplastics were found in 7 out of 9 samples in the form of microparticles with an average median diameter of 14.5 μm, ranging from minimum diameter of 3.04 μm to maximum diameter of 93.90 μm and microfibers with an average median length of 259.33 μm ranging from minimum length of 128.24um to maximum length of 1127.47 μm. The negative controls showed absence of microplastics highlighting the adequate management of the samples, whether the microplastics identified have followed ingestion track through the body and excreted in the urine through the kidney remains to be further investigated. Also see: https://micro2024.sciencesconf.org/546327/document
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