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Tier 2
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Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence.
Detection Methods
Food & Water
Nanoplastics
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The release of polylactic acid nanoplastics (PLA-NPLs) from commercial teabags. Obtention, characterization, and hazard effects of true-to-life PLA-NPLs
Journal of Hazardous Materials2023
62 citations
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Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 65
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0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Aliro Villacorta
Gooya Banaei,
Gooya Banaei,
Alireza Tavakolpournegari,
Alba García‐Rodríguez,
Alireza Tavakolpournegari,
Alireza Tavakolpournegari,
Ricard Marcos,
Aliro Villacorta
Aliro Villacorta
Aliro Villacorta
Aliro Villacorta
Aliro Villacorta
Alba García‐Rodríguez,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Aliro Villacorta
Aliro Villacorta
Aliro Villacorta
Aliro Villacorta
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Aliro Villacorta
Aliro Villacorta
Aliro Villacorta
Aliro Villacorta
Alba Hernández,
Aliro Villacorta
Aliro Villacorta
Aliro Villacorta
Alireza Tavakolpournegari,
Alireza Tavakolpournegari,
Alba Hernández,
Ricard Marcos,
Aliro Villacorta
Aliro Villacorta
Aliro Villacorta
Alba Hernández,
Aliro Villacorta
Alba Hernández,
Gooya Banaei,
Juan Martín-Pérez,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Aliro Villacorta
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Gooya Banaei,
Alireza Tavakolpournegari,
Juan Martín-Pérez,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba García‐Rodríguez,
Alba Hernández,
Aliro Villacorta
Gooya Banaei,
Alba Hernández,
Gooya Banaei,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba Hernández,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba Hernández,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba Hernández,
Gooya Banaei,
Alireza Tavakolpournegari,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba Hernández,
Aliro Villacorta
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba Hernández,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba Hernández,
Alba García‐Rodríguez,
Alba Hernández,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba Hernández,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba Hernández,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Aliro Villacorta
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba Hernández,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba García‐Rodríguez,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Alba García‐Rodríguez,
Alba Hernández,
Alba García‐Rodríguez,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba García‐Rodríguez,
Ricard Marcos,
Alba Hernández,
Alba Hernández,
Aliro Villacorta
Summary
Scientists found that commercial teabags release about one million nanoplastic particles made of polylactic acid (PLA) into each cup of tea during normal brewing. When tested on lab-grown intestinal cells, these nanoplastics were taken up at high rates and caused changes in the structure and function of the gut barrier. This suggests that even "biodegradable" plastics in food packaging may expose people to significant amounts of nanoplastics.
This study investigates MNPLs release from commercially available teabags and their effects on both undifferentiated monocultures of Caco-2 and HT29 and in the in vitro model of the intestinal Caco-2/HT29 barrier. Teabags were subjected to mechanical and thermodynamic forces simulating the preparation of a cup of tea. The obtained dispersions were characterized using TEM, SEM, DLS, LDV, NTA, and FTIR. Results confirmed that particles were in the nano-range, constituted by polylactic acid (PLA-NPLs), and about one million of PLA-NPLs per teabag were quantified. PLA-NPLs internalization, cytotoxicity, intracellular reactive oxygen species induction, as well as structural and functional changes in the barrier were assessed. Results show that PLA-NPLs present high uptake rates, especially in mucus-secretor cells, and bio-persisted in the tissue after 72 h of exposure. Although no significant cytotoxicity was observed after the exposure to 100 µg/mL PLA-NPLs during 48 h, a slight barrier disruption could be detected at short-time periods. The present work reveals new insights into the safety of polymer-based teabags, the behavior of true-to-life MNPLs in the human body, as well as new questions on how repeated and prolonged exposures could affect the structure and function of the human intestinal epithelium.