Back to papers
0
Article ? AI-assigned paper type based on the abstract. Classification may not be perfect — flag errors using the feedback button. Tier 2 ? Original research — experimental, observational, or case-control study. Direct primary evidence. Sign in to save

A novel extraction protocol of nano-polystyrene from biological samples

The Science of The Total Environment 2021 19 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Hongying Gao, Yi Lin, Yi Lin, Jie Wei, Yike Zhang, Hong Pan, Miaomiao Ren, Jin Li, Liuying Huang, Xi Zhang, Qingyu Huang, Heqing Shen

Summary

Researchers developed a diatomite-based extraction protocol for isolating nano-polystyrene from biological samples, providing a method to quantify nanoplastics in tissues that had previously lacked reliable analytical tools.

Polymers
PS
Body Systems
Digestive Hepatic Renal
Models
Human Invertebrate other Mouse

Toxicological data demonstrate that nanoplastics (NPs) can cause direct adverse health effects. However, a method for quantifying NPs in biological samples is lacking to date. In this study, a diatomite associated coagulation-sedimentation extraction (CSE) protocol was developed to selectively enrich polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NP) from microplastics (PS-MP) in the digest of animal tissues, which were then analyzed using pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We demonstrate that 0.02 g of 7-μm diatomite can selectively adsorb 70-nm PS-NP in 5 mL oyster digest. The method works in the range of 0.006-5 μg PS-NP per 0.5 g wet weight tissue, which has been verified via samples of environmentally contaminated oysters and chow diet PS-NP-treated C57BL/6 mice (digestive tract, kidney, and liver tissues). The particle size-dependent colloidization or buoyancy theoretically supported the general CSE procedure. This work will pave the way for assessing human exposure to NPs and associated health risks.

Read via DOI PubMed

Share this paper

Post Share Share Pin Email