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Understanding interactions between oligomeric plastic and lung-sufactants underpinning inhalation risks of airborne plastics
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Researchers investigated how oligomeric plastic particles interact with lung surfactant bilayers to understand inhalation risks, proposing that as plastics break down to oligomeric sizes through environmental degradation they may penetrate and disrupt the protective surfactant layer lining the lungs.
Plastics are widespread in our daily life. The global annual production of plastic waste was 390.7 million metric tons in 2021, and the amount is projected to triple by 2060. Plastics may break down to smaller particles, and ultimately oligomeric polymers, via photo- or bio-degradation. These particles or oligomers ultimately accumulate in the ocean, soil, and atmosphere. Some of these would become airborne, and humans are particularly vulnerable to inhalation risks of airborne plastics; however, our understanding of how these polymers interact with the lung is very limited. Here, we propose to investigate the structure of lung-surfactant bilayers perfused with oligomeric PS (representing the ultimate molecular form of degraded plastics), utilizing X-ray reflectivity (XRR), as well as the structure of the surface layer as lung-surfactant liposomes rupture on a PS surface, elucidating the potential impact of nanoplastics on the structural integrity of pulmonary phospholipid bilayers.
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This review summarizes existing research on how tiny inhaled plastic particles affect lung surfactant, a fluid that helps keep air sacs open. Studies in animals, lab cells, and computer models found that these particles can interfere with how surfactant spreads and functions, which may contribute to inflammation and worsen lung disease.
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Microplastics and Nanoplastics Impair the Biophysical Function of Pulmonary Surfactant by Forming Heteroaggregates at the Alveolar–Capillary Interface
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