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The need for ecologically realistic studies on the health effects of microplastics
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This perspective argues that current laboratory studies on microplastic health effects — which rely on force-feeding rodents unrealistically high doses — poorly represent actual wildlife or human exposures, calling for more ecologically realistic study designs to generate meaningful risk data.
Abstract Plastic pollution is now so widespread that microplastics are consistently detected in every biological sample surveyed for their presence. Despite their pervasiveness, very little is known about the effects of microplastics on the health of terrestrial species. While emerging studies are showing that microplastics represent a potentially serious threat to animal health, data have been limited to in vivo studies on laboratory rodents that were force fed plastics. The extent to which these studies are representative of the conditions that animals and humans might actually experience in the real world is largely unknown. Here, we review the peer-reviewed literature in order to understand how the concentrations and types of microplastics being administered in lab studies compare to those found in terrestrial soils. We found that lab studies have heretofore fed rodents microplastics at concentrations that were hundreds of thousands of times greater than they would be exposed to in nature. Furthermore, health effects have been studied for only 10% of the microplastic polymers that are known to occur in soils. The plastic pollution crisis is arguably one of the most pressing ecological and public health issues of our time, yet existing lab-based research on the health effects of terrestrial microplastics does not reflect the conditions that free-ranging animals are actually experiencing. Going forward, performing more true-to-life research will be of the utmost importance to understand the impacts of microplastics and maintain the public’s faith in the scientific process.
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The need for environmentally realistic studies on the health effects of terrestrial microplastics
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Researchers reviewed 114 studies on the health effects of microplastics in laboratory rodents and found that most experiments used concentrations and plastic types that do not reflect what animals and humans actually encounter in the real world. The plastic types, sizes, and doses used in lab settings often differ substantially from environmental conditions. The study calls for more environmentally realistic research designs to generate data that can meaningfully inform health risk assessments for terrestrial species, including humans.
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Researchers argue that many laboratory studies on microplastic effects use concentrations far higher than what is actually found in the environment, which can lead to misleading conclusions about real-world risks. They call for experiments that better reflect environmental conditions, including realistic particle sizes, shapes, and concentrations. The study emphasizes that more environmentally relevant research is needed to accurately assess the true ecological threat of microplastic pollution.
Micro/nanoplastics effects on organisms: A review focusing on ‘dose’
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This critical review examined published dose-response data for microplastic effects on organisms, finding that the vast majority of studies used concentrations far exceeding measured environmental levels and calling for greater focus on realistic exposure scenarios to produce ecologically meaningful hazard assessments.
Gaps in aquatic toxicological studies of microplastics
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This paper identifies key gaps in aquatic toxicological studies of microplastics, arguing that most studies use unrealistic concentrations or particle types and calling for more ecologically relevant experimental designs to better assess real-world risks.
Further Studies in Translatable Model Systems are Needed to Predict the Impacts of Human Microplastic Exposure
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This review highlights that humans are inevitably exposed to microplastics through food, drink, and air, but most toxicity studies have been done in aquatic species at unrealistically high doses. The authors call for better experimental models that reflect realistic human exposure before health risks can be fully assessed.
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