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.
Human Health Effects
Policy & Risk
Sign in to save
Estimation of the mass of microplastics ingested – A pivotal first step towards human health risk assessment
Journal of Hazardous Materials2020
939 citations
?
Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count.
Score: 60
?
0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Maddison Carbery,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Kala Senathirajah,
Kala Senathirajah,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Geetika Bhagwat,
Geetika Bhagwat,
Geetika Bhagwat,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Simon Attwood,
Kala Senathirajah,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Scott P. Wilson
Scott P. Wilson
Scott P. Wilson
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Geetika Bhagwat,
Geetika Bhagwat,
Geetika Bhagwat,
Geetika Bhagwat,
Simon Attwood,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Geetika Bhagwat,
Geetika Bhagwat,
Maddison Carbery,
Kala Senathirajah,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Scott P. Wilson
Geetika Bhagwat,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Kala Senathirajah,
Maddison Carbery,
Scott P. Wilson
Scott P. Wilson
Palanisami Thavamani,
Maddison Carbery,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Geetika Bhagwat,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Kala Senathirajah,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Kala Senathirajah,
Geetika Bhagwat,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Maddison Carbery,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Kala Senathirajah,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Scott P. Wilson
Scott P. Wilson
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Scott P. Wilson
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Scott P. Wilson
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Maddison Carbery,
Palanisami Thavamani,
Scott P. Wilson
Summary
Researchers compiled data from multiple studies to estimate the mass of microplastics that humans ingest from various sources including food, water, and air. This work represents an important first step toward formal health risk assessment, though the study notes significant data gaps and uncertainties that need to be addressed before definitive exposure levels can be established.
The ubiquitous presence of microplastics in the food web has been established. However, the mass of microplastics exposure to humans is not defined, impeding the human health risk assessment. Our objectives were to extract the data from the available evidence on the number and mass of microplastics from various sources, to determine the uncertainties in the existing data, to set future research directions, and derive a global average rate of microplastic ingestion to assist in the development of human health risk assessments and effective management and policy options. To enable the comparison of microplastics exposure across a range of sources, data extraction and standardization was coupled with the adoption of conservative assumptions. Following the analysis of data from fifty-nine publications, an average mass for individual microplastics in the 0-1 mm size range was calculated. Subsequently, we estimated that globally on average, humans may ingest 0.1-5 g of microplastics weekly through various exposure pathways. This was the first attempt to transform microplastic counts into a mass value relevant to human toxicology. The determination of an ingestion rate is fundamental to assess the human health risks of microplastic ingestion. These findings will contribute to future human health risk assessment frameworks.