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Human health risk model for microplastic exposure in the Arctic region
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Researchers developed a new model to estimate the cancer risk that microplastics contaminated with heavy metals and other harmful chemicals may pose to people living in the Arctic region. The model accounts for local food sources, environmental conditions, and how the human body processes these contaminants. The study suggests that certain Arctic communities who rely heavily on local seafood may face elevated long-term exposure to microplastic-associated pollutants.
Microplastics enriched with carcinogens like heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and their derivatives are ubiquitous in Arctic waters. They contaminate the local land and sea-based food sources, which is a significant health hazard. It is thus imperative to assess the risk posed by them to the nearby communities, which primarily rely on locally available food sources to meet their energy requirements. This paper proposes a novel ecotoxicity model to assess the human health risk posed by microplastics. The region's geophysical and environmental conditions affecting human microplastic intake, along with the human physiological parameters influencing biotransformation, are incorporated into the developed causation model. It investigates the carcinogenic risk associated with microplastic intake in humans via ingestion in terms of incremental excess lifetime cancer risk (IELCR). The model first evaluates microplastic intake and then uses reactive metabolites produced due to the interaction of microplastics with xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes to assess cellular mutations that result in cancer. All these conditions are mapped in an Object-Oriented Bayesian Network (OOBN) framework to evaluate IELCR. The study will provide a vital tool for formulating better risk management strategies and policies in the Arctic region, especially concerning Arctic Indigenous peoples.
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Researchers developed a novel ecotoxicological risk model for microplastics in Arctic marine waters, incorporating oxidative stress as a toxicity endpoint and accounting for Arctic-specific environmental conditions and species physiology. The model predicted elevated risk for Arctic biota under current microplastic concentrations, particularly for filter feeders and small crustaceans.
Microplastic pollution associated with probabilistic human health risks: Potential hazards, critical factors, challenges, and limitations
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This review provides a framework for estimating the cancer risk from microplastic exposure through food and water, using measures like estimated daily intake and a microplastic cancer risk score. Key factors that determine risk include body weight, the type of plastic, how much is consumed, and how long the exposure lasts. While the data is still incomplete, the framework helps researchers and regulators begin to quantify the potential long-term health dangers of microplastic pollution.
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Researchers built a food web model simulating microplastic and chemical contaminant transfer through an Arctic marine food chain from zooplankton to polar bears. The model found that while microplastics themselves do not biomagnify substantially through trophic levels, they can alter the bioaccumulation patterns of hydrophobic organic chemicals depending on the chemical properties and organism physiology.
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Researchers assessed the cancer risk of microplastics originating from e-waste that had adsorbed carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The study found that microplastics effectively captured PAHs through adsorption and estimated the probable cancer risk from human ingestion of PAH-enriched microplastics, suggesting this exposure pathway warrants further health risk evaluation.
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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.