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Organ-level translocation and tissue-specific accumulation of micro- and nanoplastics in wild birds

Journal of Hazardous Materials 2025 1 citation ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 53 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.

Peng Zhou, Peng Zhou, Mengzhu Wang, Shane G. DuBay, Mengzhu Wang, Peng Zhou, Mengzhu Wang, Mengzhu Wang, Shiyi Wang, Zhixiong Yang, Shiyi Wang, Peng Zhou, Mengzhu Wang, Peng Zhou, Yongjie Wu Peng Zhou, Shane G. DuBay, Shane G. DuBay, Shane G. DuBay, Shane G. DuBay, Huitong Shan, X. B. Lu, Huitong Shan, Shangmingyu Zhang, X. B. Lu, Jiayu Zhang, Peng Zhou, Shangmingyu Zhang, Shangmingyu Zhang, Zhixiong Yang, Zhixiong Yang, Shangmingyu Zhang, Jiayu Zhang, Jiayu Zhang, Zhixiong Yang, Yibo Wang, Shangmingyu Zhang, Zhixiong Yang, Zhengrui Hu, Zhengrui Hu, Jiayu Zhang, Zhengrui Hu, Zhengrui Hu, Yibo Wang, Zhengrui Hu, Zhengrui Hu, Zhengrui Hu, Zhengrui Hu, Zhixiong Yang, Xingcheng He, Zhixiong Yang, Yongjie Wu Jiayu Zhang, Zhengrui Hu, Yibo Wang, Yibo Wang, Zhengrui Hu, Jiayu Zhang, Yi Wu, Xingcheng He, Shiyi Wang, X. B. Lu, X. B. Lu, Shiyi Wang, Zhiqiang Li, Xingcheng He, Ping Chen, Xingcheng He, Xingcheng He, Yongjie Wu Shane G. DuBay, Yongjie Wu

Summary

Researchers quantified micro- and nanoplastic burdens across six tissues in ten wild bird species and found that smaller-bodied birds carried higher plastic loads. Nanoplastics showed greater ability to move into internal organs than larger microplastics, and plastic particles were detected in the brain, blood, lungs, and muscle tissue. The study suggests that blood plastic levels could serve as a proxy for internal organ contamination and positions wild birds as potential bioindicators for plastic pollution.

Polymers

PE PET PU PVC

Body Systems

Musculoskeletal Nervous Respiratory

Study Type In vivo

Global plastic pollution has introduced microplastics (MPs, < 5 mm) and nanoplastics (NPs, < 1 µm), collectively termed micro(nano)plastics (MNPs), into terrestrial ecosystems, yet their in vivo fate remains unclear. We quantified MNP burdens across six tissues-feathers, lungs, intestinal contents, blood, brain, and pectoral muscle-in ten wild bird species spanning a 55-fold body-mass gradient, using Laser Direct Infrared spectroscopy (LDIR) for MPs (20-500 µm) and Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) for NPs. Six patterns emerged: (1) small-bodied birds carried higher MNP burdens than larger species; (2) exposure interfaces harbored more MNPs than internal compartments; (3) NPs showed greater translocation potential than MPs; (4) particle characteristics shaped abundance-pellet acrylates (ACR), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) dominated internal tissues, while fibers were largely excluded by anatomical filtration; (5) blood MNP levels showed a positive trend with those in internal organs, suggesting potential utility as a proxy for internal burden; (6) hazard index analysis identified high-risk burdens in most organs, with PVC and polyurethane (PU) requiring regulatory attention. This study provides the first organ-level MNP distribution map under natural exposure and positions birds as potential bioindicators for cryptic plastic pollution in terrestrial systems.

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