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Papers
98 resultsShowing papers from University of Catania
ClearFirst evidence of microplastics in human ovarian follicular fluid: An emerging threat to female fertility
For the first time, researchers detected microplastic particles in the fluid surrounding eggs in human ovaries. Tiny plastic particles were found in 14 out of 18 women undergoing fertility treatment, and higher microplastic levels correlated with elevated follicle-stimulating hormone, a key reproductive hormone. While no direct link to fertility outcomes was confirmed in this small study, the findings raise concerns about microplastic exposure and female reproductive health.
How Antimicrobial Resistance Is Linked to Climate Change: An Overview of Two Intertwined Global Challenges
This review explores how climate change and antibiotic resistance are connected health emergencies, with microplastics playing a role as carriers that help spread resistant bacteria through waterways. The findings suggest that rising plastic pollution in water systems may contribute to the spread of drug-resistant infections, which is a growing threat to human health.
Microplastics as Emerging Contaminants and Human Health: Exploring Functional Nutrition in Gastric–Colon–Brain Axis Cancer
This review explores how microplastics may increase cancer risk along the stomach-colon-brain pathway by triggering oxidative stress, inflammation, and disrupting cell signaling. The paper also highlights that certain plant-based nutrients and flavonoids may help protect cells from microplastic damage by activating the body's detoxification pathways, suggesting functional nutrition could be a strategy to reduce harm from plastic exposure.
Impact of environmental microplastic exposure on HepG2 cells: unraveling proliferation, mitochondrial dynamics and autophagy activation
Lab experiments on human liver cells found that exposure to common microplastics (polyethylene and PET) increased cell growth but also triggered oxidative stress, damaged mitochondria (the cell's energy centers), and activated autophagy -- a process where cells try to clean up internal damage. These findings suggest that microplastics may disrupt normal liver cell function in ways that could have long-term health consequences.
Relationship between climate change and environmental microplastics: a one health vision for the platysphere health
This review examines the two-way relationship between climate change and microplastic pollution: plastic production generates greenhouse gases, while extreme weather events spread microplastics further into the environment. The study uses a One Health framework to argue that addressing microplastic pollution and climate change together is essential for protecting human, animal, and environmental health.
Effects of Nano and Microplastics on the Inflammatory Process: In Vitro and In Vivo Studies Systematic Review
This systematic review examined both lab-based and animal studies on how micro- and nanoplastics trigger inflammation in the body. The evidence supports a link between microplastic exposure and inflammatory responses, which are involved in many chronic diseases. While more high-quality studies are needed — especially on nanoplastics — the findings suggest that plastic particles may contribute to ongoing low-level inflammation in exposed organisms.
2024 roadmap on membrane desalination technology at the water-energy nexus
This roadmap review covers the latest advances in membrane technology for turning seawater and brackish water into drinking water. While the paper focuses on desalination engineering, it notes that membrane filtration is also being explored as a way to remove microplastics from water supplies, which is relevant to reducing human exposure through drinking water.
Efficiency of Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) for Microplastic Removal: A Systematic Review
This systematic review examines how well wastewater treatment plants remove microplastics before releasing water back into the environment. The findings show that while treatment plants catch many microplastics, significant amounts still pass through, meaning microplastics continue to enter rivers, lakes, and oceans that supply our drinking water and seafood.
Organic Fertilizers and Bio-Waste for Sustainable Soil Management to Support Crops and Control Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Mediterranean Agroecosystems: A Review
This review examines how organic fertilizers and agricultural bio-waste can improve soil health, support crop growth, and help control greenhouse gas emissions in Mediterranean farming systems. While not directly about microplastics, the study is relevant because sewage-based composts and biochar used as fertilizers can introduce microplastic contamination into agricultural soils, creating a tradeoff between soil improvement and pollution.
Short-term exposure to polystyrene microplastics hampers the cellular function of gills in the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis
Even short-term exposure (72 hours) to polystyrene microplastics disrupted gill function in Mediterranean mussels, a species commonly eaten by humans. The microplastics accumulated in gill tissue and caused metabolic disorders including changes in energy production, nerve signaling, and salt balance, along with oxidative stress. Since mussels are filter feeders that concentrate microplastics from seawater, these findings raise questions about the quality of shellfish as human food.
Impact of Chemical Endocrine Disruptors and Hormone Modulators on the Endocrine System
This review examines how endocrine-disrupting chemicals, including those found in plastics, interfere with the body's hormone systems through both direct and indirect pathways. Researchers found that long-term exposure to these substances can affect reproductive health, metabolism, and development, with physical stressors like light and temperature also playing a role. The study highlights the complexity of endocrine disruption and the need for broader research into non-chemical factors as well.
First evidence of microplastics in human ovarian follicular fluid: an emerging threat to female fertility
In the first study of its kind, researchers detected microplastics in the ovarian follicular fluid of 14 out of 18 women undergoing fertility treatment, with an average of about 2,191 particles per milliliter. A significant correlation was found between microplastic concentration and FSH hormone levels, suggesting a possible link to reproductive function. This groundbreaking finding provides direct evidence that microplastics can reach human reproductive organs and may pose a threat to female fertility.
Unraveling the interplay between environmental microplastics and salinity stress on Mytilus galloprovincialis larval development: A holistic exploration
Researchers studied how environmental microplastics and increased salinity together affect the early development of Mediterranean mussel larvae. The combination caused larval deformities, developmental problems, and changes in gene activity related to shell formation, stress response, and cell damage. These findings are concerning because climate change is altering ocean salinity in coastal areas where microplastic pollution is also heavy, and mussels are a food source that could pass accumulated microplastics to humans.
Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Human Health: Effects on Metabolism, Diabetes and Cancer
This review by a panel of Italian medical experts examines how polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), flame retardant chemicals commonly found in plastics and electronics, affect human metabolism and may contribute to diabetes and cancer. PBDEs persist in the environment and accumulate in human tissues, where they disrupt hormone signaling and activate pathways linked to metabolic disease and tumor growth. These chemicals are relevant to microplastic concerns because they leach from plastic products and can be carried into the body on microplastic surfaces.
Micro- and nano-plastics in edible fruit and vegetables. The first diet risks assessment for the general population
Researchers conducted the first risk assessment of microplastic contamination in commonly consumed fruits and vegetables and found particles in all samples tested, with apples and carrots showing the highest levels. Particles as small as 1.5 micrometers were detected, and the team calculated estimated daily intake values for both adults and children. The findings highlight a previously undocumented dietary exposure route and raise questions about the long-term health implications of consuming microplastics through produce.
Embryotoxicity of polystyrene microplastics in zebrafish Danio rerio
Researchers exposed zebrafish embryos to polystyrene microplastics during early development and observed serious physical deformities, particularly in the spine, tail, and eyes, despite no increase in mortality. The exposed larvae also showed elevated expression of genes involved in oxidative stress defense and cellular detoxification. The findings suggest that microplastics can disrupt critical developmental stages in freshwater fish even when they do not directly cause death.
Metabolomic and biochemical disorders reveal the toxicity of environmental microplastics and benzo[a]pyrene in the marine polychaete Hediste diversicolor
This study exposed marine polychaete worms to environmentally realistic concentrations of microplastics and benzo[a]pyrene, a toxic chemical commonly found attached to microplastics. The combination of both pollutants caused more metabolic disruption and biochemical damage than either one alone. Since polychaetes are an important food source for fish, these findings suggest that microplastics carrying toxic chemicals could amplify harm throughout marine food webs.
Microplastics in fillets of Mediterranean seafood. A risk assessment study
Researchers analyzed fillets of several common Mediterranean seafood species for microplastic contamination and estimated the associated human dietary exposure. They detected microplastics in the edible tissue of all species tested, including sardines, sea bream, and mussels. The study provides risk estimates suggesting that regular seafood consumption represents a notable pathway for human microplastic ingestion.
Removal of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water by adsorption: Role of PFAS chain length, effect of organic matter and challenges in adsorbent regeneration
Researchers critically reviewed adsorption-based removal of both long- and short-chain PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) from water, concluding that strong anion-exchange resins perform best but that short-chain variants remain especially difficult to remove, and that organic matter effects and adsorbent regeneration are major unresolved challenges for real-world treatment.
Exposure to microplastics (<10 μm) associated to plastic bottles mineral water consumption: The first quantitative study
Researchers conducted the first quantitative study of microplastic contamination in bottled mineral water and found that plastic bottles release significant numbers of particles smaller than 10 micrometers into the water. The release was linked to the bottle material and storage conditions. The findings suggest that drinking bottled water is a meaningful source of human microplastic exposure.
Embryotoxicity of polystyrene microplastics, alone and conjugated with bisphenol A, in the black sea urchin Arbacia lixula: A multi-biomarker approach
Researchers tested the effects of polystyrene microplastics and the chemical bisphenol A, both alone and combined, on sea urchin embryo development. While bisphenol A caused severe skeletal abnormalities and developmental arrest, its toxicity was actually reduced when attached to microplastic surfaces rather than amplified. The study found no synergistic toxic effect between the two pollutants under acute exposure conditions, though both individually disrupted metabolic and oxidative stress pathways.
Advancing sustainable agriculture through multi-omics profiling of biosolids for safe application: A review
This review examines the potential benefits and risks of using biosolids from wastewater treatment as agricultural soil amendments. Researchers highlight that while biosolids provide valuable nutrients, they may also contain contaminants including pharmaceuticals, PFAS, pathogens, and microplastics that could transfer to cropland. The study advocates for multi-omics profiling approaches to better characterize these risks before widespread agricultural application.
Impact of Environmental Microplastic Exposure on Caco-2 Cells: Unraveling Proliferation, Apoptosis, and Autophagy Activation
Researchers exposed human intestinal cells to polyethylene and PET microplastics of different sizes and observed significant decreases in cell survival along with increased oxidative stress. The microplastics triggered both programmed cell death (apoptosis) and the cell's self-recycling process (autophagy), with effects varying by particle size. The study suggests that microplastic exposure may compromise the intestinal barrier through multiple pathways of cellular damage.
Microplastics ingestion by marine fauna with a particular focus on commercial species: a systematic review
This systematic review and meta-analysis examines microplastic ingestion across marine species, with a focus on commercially important seafood. The researchers found that microplastic contamination is widespread in fish, shellfish, and other marine animals that end up on our dinner plates. This matters for human health because we may be consuming these particles every time we eat seafood.