Article
?
AI-assigned paper type based on the abstract. Classification may not be perfect — flag errors using the feedback button.
Tier 2
?
Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence.
Human Health Effects
Nanoplastics
Sign in to save
Differences in toxicity induced by the various polymer types of nanoplastics on HepG2 cells
The Science of The Total Environment2024
55 citations
?
Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 70
?
0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Zhenqing Dai,
Linhong Yan,
Zifan Lu,
Linhong Yan,
Chengyong Li
Linhong Yan,
Linhong Yan,
Lihua Ma,
Lihua Ma,
Chengyong Li
Ruikun Sun,
Lihua Ma,
Zifan Lu,
Zifan Lu,
Zifan Lu,
Zijie Wu,
Zijie Wu,
Ruikun Sun,
Chengyong Li
Zhenqing Dai,
Zijie Wu,
Zijie Wu,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Chengyong Li
Lihua Ma,
Zifan Lu,
Zifan Lu,
Ruikun Sun,
Zifan Lu,
Zhenqing Dai,
Ruikun Sun,
Zhenqing Dai,
Ruikun Sun,
Ruikun Sun,
Linhong Yan,
Zhenqing Dai,
Linhong Yan,
Linhong Yan,
Linhong Yan,
Linhong Yan,
Linhong Yan,
Ruikun Sun,
Zhenqing Dai,
Chengyong Li
Zijie Wu,
Zhenqing Dai,
Ruikun Sun,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Xiaoling Dong,
Lihua Ma,
Zijie Wu,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Xiaoling Dong,
Xiaoling Dong,
Zifan Lu,
Pengzhi Hong,
Chunxia Zhou,
Chunxia Zhou,
Chunxia Zhou,
Chunxia Zhou,
Chunxia Zhou,
Chunxia Zhou,
Chunxia Zhou,
Lihua Ma,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Ruikun Sun,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Chengyong Li
Ruikun Sun,
Zijie Wu,
Chunxia Zhou,
Pengzhi Hong,
Pengzhi Hong,
Pengzhi Hong,
Pengzhi Hong,
Zifan Lu,
Xiaoling Dong,
Xiaoling Dong,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zijie Wu,
Xiaoling Dong,
Pengzhi Hong,
Zijie Wu,
Chengyong Li
Lihua Ma,
Pengzhi Hong,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zifan Lu,
Zhenqing Dai,
Ruikun Sun,
Zhenqing Dai,
Chunxia Zhou,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Lihua Ma,
Zhenqing Dai,
Ruikun Sun,
Ruikun Sun,
Ruikun Sun,
Pengzhi Hong,
Chengyong Li
Zijie Wu,
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Zhenqing Dai,
Pengzhi Hong,
Ruikun Sun,
Pengzhi Hong,
Pengzhi Hong,
Zhenqing Dai,
Chengyong Li
Zhenqing Dai,
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Ruikun Sun,
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chunxia Zhou,
Chunxia Zhou,
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Pengzhi Hong,
Ruikun Sun,
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chunxia Zhou,
Zhenqing Dai,
Zhenqing Dai,
Chengyong Li
Pengzhi Hong,
Pengzhi Hong,
Zhenqing Dai,
Chunxia Zhou,
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Pengzhi Hong,
Ruikun Sun,
Zhenqing Dai,
Chengyong Li
Pengzhi Hong,
Chunxia Zhou,
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Pengzhi Hong,
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Chengyong Li
Summary
Researchers compared the toxicity of three common nanoplastic types on human liver cells and found that PET (used in bottles) and PVC were significantly more toxic than polystyrene, causing cell death through oxidative stress and a mitochondrial damage pathway. This is important because most toxicity studies have only tested polystyrene, potentially underestimating the health risks of the plastic types people actually encounter most in food and beverage packaging.
The problem of microplastics (MPs) contamination in food has gradually come to the fore. MPs can be transmitted through the food chain and accumulate within various organisms, ultimately posing a threat to human health. The concentration of nanoplastics (NPs) exposed to humans may be higher than that of MPs. For the first time, we studied the differences in toxicity, and potential toxic effects of different polymer types of NPs, namely, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polystyrene (PS) on HepG2 cells. In this study, PET-NPs, PVC-NPs, and PS-NPs, which had similar particle size, surface charge, and shape, were prepared using nanoprecipitation and emulsion polymerization. The results of the CCK-8 assay showed that the PET-NPs and PVC-NPs induced a decrease in cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner, and their lowest concentrations causing significant cytotoxicity were 100 and 150 μg/mL, respectively. Moreover, the major cytotoxic effects of PET-NPs and PVC-NPs at high concentrations may be to induce an increase in intracellular ROS, which in turn induces cellular damage and other toxic effects. Notably, our study suggested that PET-NPs and PVC-NPs may induce apoptosis in HepG2 cells through the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. However, no relevant cytotoxicity, oxidative damage, and apoptotic toxic effects were detected in HepG2 cells with exposure to PS-NPs. Furthermore, the analysis of transcriptomics data suggested that PET-NPs and PVC-NPs could significantly inhibit the expression of DNA repair-related genes in the p53 signaling pathway. Compared to PS-NPs, the expression levels of lipid metabolism-related genes were down-regulated to a greater extent by PET-NPs and PVC-NPs. In conclusion, PET-NPs and PVC-NPs were able to induce higher cytotoxic effects than PS-NPs, in which the density and chemical structure of NPs of different polymer types may be the key factors causing the differences in toxicity.