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Ultraviolet-induced photodegradation elevated the toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics on human lung epithelial A549 cells
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Researchers found that UV-induced photodegradation significantly increased the toxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics on human lung epithelial cells. The degraded nanoplastics caused greater cell death, stronger oxidative stress, more severe membrane damage, and intensive mitochondrial dysfunction compared to non-degraded particles, suggesting that weathered nanoplastics in the environment may pose greater health risks than pristine ones.
UV-induced photodegradation posed greater cytotoxicity, as clearly evidenced by the impaired cell viability, stronger oxidative stress, serious membrane damage, intensive mitochondrial dysfunction, and the altered transcriptome responses.
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Photoaging of polystyrene microspheres causes oxidative alterations to surface physicochemistry and enhances airway epithelial toxicity
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Researchers aged polystyrene microplastics with UV light and then tested their effects on human lung cells. They found that UV-weathered particles caused more pronounced biological responses than fresh ones, including cell cycle disruption, altered cell shape, and impaired wound healing. The study suggests that environmental aging of airborne microplastics may increase their potential to harm respiratory tissues.
Treatment of polyethylene microplastics degraded by ultraviolet light irradiation causes lysosome-deregulated cell death
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Researchers found that polyethylene microplastics degraded by ultraviolet light were more toxic to cells than pristine microplastics, triggering a type of cell death linked to lysosome dysfunction. UV exposure changed the surface chemistry of the particles, making them more reactive and harmful to cellular structures. The study highlights that weathered microplastics in the environment may pose greater health risks than newly produced plastic particles.
Enhanced hepatic metabolic perturbation of polystyrene nanoplastics by UV irradiation-induced hydroxyl radical generation
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Researchers found that ultraviolet light exposure changes the surface properties of polystyrene nanoplastics, making them more toxic to mouse livers than untreated particles. The UV-altered nanoplastics caused greater disruption to liver metabolism, triggering increased oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. The study highlights that environmental weathering can make nanoplastics more harmful over time, which means laboratory studies using pristine particles may underestimate real-world health risks.
Photoaging of polystyrene microspheres causes oxidative alterations to surface physicochemistry and enhances airway epithelial toxicity
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Researchers photoaged polystyrene microspheres under ultraviolet radiation for five weeks and then compared their toxicity to pristine microspheres in A549 human lung cells. They found that UV aging increased polar surface groups on the particles and produced more pronounced oxidative stress, cell cycle arrest, and morphological changes than pristine microspheres, with toxicity further shaped by particle size, dose, and exposure duration.
Photo-transformation of microplastics and its toxicity to Caco-2 cells
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Researchers studied how ultraviolet light transforms polystyrene microplastics and how these changes affect toxicity to human intestinal cells. They found that UV exposure roughened the particle surfaces and introduced oxygen-containing functional groups, and that these photo-transformed microplastics were significantly more toxic to Caco-2 cells than pristine particles. The study suggests that environmentally weathered microplastics may pose greater risks to the human digestive system than freshly produced ones.
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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.