Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Influence of polypropylene mesh degradation on tissue inflammatory reaction

Polypropylene surgical mesh implants were found to degrade in vivo through surface cracking and peeling, releasing particles and altering the inflammatory tissue response around the implant. The study raises concerns about the long-term biocompatibility of polypropylene mesh given its degradation behavior.

2022 Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Uncovering the relationship between macrophages and polypropylene surgical mesh

Researchers studied how polypropylene surgical mesh, commonly used to treat stress urinary incontinence, degrades inside the body when exposed to mechanical forces and oxidation. The degraded mesh surface cracked and triggered inflammatory and scarring responses in immune cells, helping explain why these implants sometimes cause serious complications. This study demonstrates that plastic materials can break down within the body and provoke harmful immune responses, which is directly relevant to concerns about microplastic accumulation in human tissues.

2024 Biomaterials Advances 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Simulation of the Long-Term Ageing of Polypropylene-Made Disposable Surgical Masks and Filtering Facepiece Respirators

Researchers artificially aged polypropylene surgical masks under simulated environmental conditions and modeled their long-term oxidative degradation, finding that mask polymers undergo progressive fragmentation that will generate microplastics for years to decades after disposal in the environment.

2023 Preprints.org 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Study of the Long-Term Aging of Polypropylene-Made Disposable Surgical Masks and Filtering Facepiece Respirators

Researchers studied the long-term aging of polypropylene surgical masks and filtering respirators under simulated environmental conditions, finding progressive oxidation that weakens the polymer structure and promotes fragmentation into microplastics over time.

2023 Polymers 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection and Quantification of Micro(nano)plastics Release from Photolysis of Surgical Masks

Researchers simulated 900 days of UV photolysis on surgical mask polypropylene and detected both microplastics larger than 10 µm (10 mg per mask item) and nanoplastics averaging 149 nm, demonstrating that mask degradation releases particles small enough to penetrate deep into the respiratory tract.

2023
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in perioperative practice: an emerging concern for surgical safety

This review highlights the emerging concern of microplastics in surgical environments, noting that single-use plastic equipment in operating rooms generates microplastic particles that can contaminate surgical sites and patient tissues, calling for greater awareness of MP exposure risks in perioperative settings.

2025 International Journal of Surgery Open
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in the surgical environment

Researchers quantified and characterized airborne microplastics in a hospital operating theatre and adjoining anaesthetic room over a one-week period. They found an average of 1,924 microplastic particles per cubic meter per day in the theatre during working hours, dominated by polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene fragments. The study provides novel data on microplastic exposure in surgical environments where single-use plastics are widely used, and no microplastics were detected during non-working hours.

2022 Environment International 63 citations
Article Tier 2

Identification of Microplastics and Non-Microplastics Released from Masks under Environmental Conditions

Researchers found that single-use surgical masks worn during the COVID-19 pandemic release microplastics under environmental stress, with UV exposure generating the most particles (approximately 120 items per mask), followed by mechanical abrasion and high-temperature exposure.

2023 E3S Web of Conferences
Article Tier 2

Inorganic Additives Induce More Small-Sized Microplastics Releasing from Medical Face Masks

Researchers found that inorganic additives commonly found in medical-grade plastics accelerate the generation of small-sized microplastic particles during mechanical degradation, raising concerns that medical devices may release more and smaller plastic fragments than previously appreciated.

2025 Environmental Science & Technology 2 citations
Article Tier 2

From Macro to Micro Plastics; Influence of Photo-oxidative Degradation

This study used simulated UV aging to investigate how photo-oxidative degradation of common plastics drives fragmentation from macro to micro scale, characterizing the surface property changes and structural breakdown that generate microplastic particles in the environment.

2023 Kemija u industriji 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Rapid oxidative fragmentation of polypropylene with pH control in seawater for preparation of realistic reference microplastics

Researchers developed a method to produce realistic reference microplastics by rapidly fragmenting polypropylene through oxidative treatment in seawater with pH control, and characterized the resulting particles using SEM/EDX to confirm their similarity to environmentally weathered microplastics.

2023 Scientific Reports 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Degradation of polypropylene : proportion of microplastics formed and assessment of their density.

Researchers quantified the proportion of microplastics generated during UV-driven degradation of polypropylene and assessed changes in chemical composition caused by photooxidation. The study found that UV exposure progressively fragments polypropylene and alters its surface chemistry, affecting subsequent environmental behavior and toxicity.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Fabric structure and polymer composition as key contributors to micro(nano)plastic contamination in face masks.

Researchers investigated how the structure of face masks — including surgical polypropylene and fashionable polyurethane masks — influences the generation of micro- and nano-plastics during normal wear and UV aging. The findings show that mask material composition and fabric structure are key determinants of how much plastic particles are shed into the wearer's breathing zone.

2024 Journal of hazardous materials
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in organ transplantation: An emerging threat requiring immediate action

This review highlights the emerging concern of microplastic contamination in organ transplantation, where particles may enter through airborne exposure, surgical materials, and organ preservation systems. The study suggests that microplastics can trigger inflammation, oxidative stress, and immune dysregulation in immunosuppressed transplant recipients, potentially compromising graft outcomes and warranting urgent attention from the transplant community.

2026 World Journal of Transplantation
Article Tier 2

Degradation of polypropylene : proportion of microplastics formed and assessment of their density.

This study quantified microplastic formation during UV degradation of polypropylene and characterized the chemical changes in the polymer structure caused by photooxidation. UV exposure was shown to generate new particles and alter chemical composition in ways that may change microplastic toxicity and environmental behavior.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Release of Nano- and Microplastics from Knee Prostheses: A Review of the Emerging Risks and Biomedical Implications

This review examined the wear debris generated by polyethylene components in knee prostheses, focusing on nano- and microplastic particle release and systemic health implications. While local effects like osteolysis are well characterized, the authors found that systemic distribution of wear particles to distant organs is underexplored and potentially significant for long-term patient health.

2025 Micro
Article Tier 2

Characterization in respect to degradation of titanium‐coated polypropylene surgical mesh explanted from humans

Researchers analyzed titanium-coated polypropylene surgical mesh samples explanted from human patients to assess whether the titanium coating protects against degradation. Using multiple analytical techniques including infrared spectroscopy and electron microscopy, the study examined how the mesh materials changed during clinical use, providing the first characterization of residual material properties in Ti-coated mesh post-implantation.

2023 Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B Applied Biomaterials 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic generation from field-collected plastic gauze: Unveiling the aging processes

Researchers aged high-density polyethylene plastic gauze through freeze-thaw cycles, mechanical abrasion, and UV irradiation, finding that aged plastic released up to 334 million microplastic particles per square meter during rinsing — two orders of magnitude more than unaged plastic — with UV and abrasion generating unusual sphere and fiber morphologies.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 37 citations
Article Tier 2

On the Formation and Characterization of Nanoplastics During Surface Wear Processes

Researchers characterized nanoplastic particle generation during surface wear processes, finding that mechanical abrasion of bulk plastic materials produces a broad size distribution of particles including sub-100 nm fragments, with surface wear rate depending on polymer hardness and contact conditions.

2025 Surfaces
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in cardiopulmonary bypass: quantification and characterization of particles across systems

Researchers measured microplastic contamination generated by cardiopulmonary bypass machines used during heart surgery and found significant levels of plastic particles across the systems tested. The study characterized the types and quantities of microplastics produced during machine operation. The findings raise questions about patient exposure to microplastics during cardiac procedures and highlight the need for further research into whether these particles have clinical significance.

2025 Interdisciplinary CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Exudation of microplastics from commonly used face masks in COVID-19 pandemic

Researchers simulated real-world mask usage and found that commonly used face masks — including surgical and cloth types — shed measurable quantities of microplastic particles that could be inhaled by the wearer, raising concerns about respiratory exposure during prolonged mask use.

2022 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 26 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

Plastic particles in medicine: A systematic review of exposure and effects to human health

Medical plastics including bags, containers, and administration sets release micro- and nanoplastics along with chemical additives that can interact with pharmaceutical constituents, creating an understudied route of direct human exposure. Both primary exposure (during medical treatment) and secondary environmental exposure (from hospital plastic waste disposal) represent potential health hazards.

2022 Chemosphere 78 citations
Article Tier 2

Nanostructural changes in commodity polyethylene during environmental exposure

Researchers studied how polyethylene plastic packaging degrades at the molecular level during environmental exposure, finding that structural stress built up during manufacturing makes the material more prone to fragmentation. Understanding how plastics break apart is key to predicting microplastic generation rates.

2021 Acta Crystallographica Section A Foundations and Advances 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Elaborating more realistic model microplastics by simulating polypropylene's environmental ageing

This study developed more realistic model microplastics by simulating the environmental aging of polypropylene, producing laboratory particles with surface chemistry, roughness, and density closer to field-collected environmental microplastics.

2024 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 5 citations