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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Assessment of the potential human health risk derived from metals associated to microplastics from recycled and biopolymer-based plastics
ClearEvaluation of microplastic contamination by metals in a controlled environment: A risk to be considered
Researchers found that PET microplastics readily adsorb nickel, copper, and cobalt under controlled conditions, confirming that metal contamination of microplastics in aquatic systems represents a compounding environmental risk worth monitoring.
Evaluation of microplastic contamination by metals in a controlled environment: A risk to be considered
Researchers found that polyethylene terephthalate microplastics readily adsorb nickel, copper, and zinc metals in aquatic environments, demonstrating that degraded plastics can act as carriers for metal contaminants and pose compounded environmental risks.
Bioaccessibility of Trace Metals and Rare Earth Elements (REE) in Microplastic
Researchers measured the bioaccessibility of trace metals and rare earth elements adsorbed onto beach microplastics using simulated digestive fluid conditions. Metals were released from microplastic surfaces under stomach acid conditions, indicating that plastic ingestion can deliver these contaminants to digestive systems of marine organisms and humans.
Bioaccessibility of microplastic-associated heavy metals using an in vitro digestion model and its implications for human health risk assessment
Researchers evaluated the bioaccessibility of heavy metals associated with microplastics using an in vitro digestion model to assess human health risks. The study found significant adsorption of arsenic, chromium, cadmium, and lead onto polyvinyl chloride microplastics, with varying bioaccessibility across different digestive phases. The findings suggest that incorporating bioaccessibility data into risk assessments may provide more accurate estimates of health risks from ingesting microplastic-associated heavy metals.
Toxic metal-adsorbed microplastics threaten human digestive system: A bioaccessibility-based risk assessment
Researchers assessed the health risks of toxic metals adsorbed onto microplastics when ingested through seafood, sea salt, and drinking water. They found that environmental aging increased the metal-adsorption capacity of microplastics by roughly ninefold, with the greatest risk observed in children aged 0-3 years during stomach digestion. The study suggests that fish, bivalves, and crustaceans are the dietary sources contributing most to non-carcinogenic risk from metal-contaminated microplastics.
Human health risk assessment of metals from bio-based microplastics using a bioavailability gastrointestinal digestion model
This study used an in vitro gastrointestinal digestion model to assess human bioavailability of 12 metals—including cadmium, lead, mercury, and arsenic—from bio-based plastic microplastics made of PLA and polyhydroxybutyrate. Several metals showed significant bioaccessibility under simulated digestive conditions, indicating that bio-based plastics are not necessarily safer than conventional plastics with respect to metal leaching.
Insights into interactions of biodegradable and non-biodegradable microplastics with heavy metals
Researchers found that biodegradable polylactic acid microplastics can adsorb heavy metals like cadmium, copper, and chromium at rates comparable to or exceeding conventional non-biodegradable plastics, suggesting biodegradable microplastics may also serve as carriers of toxic metals in the environment.
How aging microplastics influence heavy metal environmental fate and bioavailability: A systematic review
This systematic review found that environmental aging (UV, weathering) degrades microplastics into smaller particles with higher surface reactivity, increasing their capacity to adsorb heavy metals. These aged microplastic-heavy metal complexes bioaccumulate through the food chain, posing greater ecological and human health risks than either pollutant alone.
Speciation and release risk of heavy metals bonded on simulated naturally-aged microplastics prepared from artificially broken macroplastics
Researchers investigated heavy metal speciation and release risk from naturally aged microplastics in simulated saltwater and gastrointestinal solutions, finding that different metals varied in adsorption capacity and release behavior, posing potential risks to both ecosystems and human health.
Microplastic-Toxic Chemical Interaction: A Review Study on Quantified Levels, Mechanism and Implication
This review summarizes quantified levels of heavy metals and hydrophobic organic contaminants sorbed onto microplastics in environmental media, examining adsorption and desorption mechanisms and discussing health implications of ingested microplastics acting as vectors for toxic chemical transport.
Adsorption behavior of heavy metals onto microplastics derived from conventional and biodegradable commercial plastic products
Researchers tested how well different types of microplastics, including both conventional and biodegradable plastics, absorb heavy metals like lead, nickel, copper, zinc, and cadmium from water. They found that all microplastic types could pick up significant amounts of heavy metals, with biodegradable plastics sometimes absorbing even more than conventional ones. This is concerning because microplastics carrying heavy metals could deliver a double dose of contamination to organisms that ingest them.
Co-occurrence and Interaction of Microplastics with Heavy Metals
This review examines the co-occurrence of microplastics and heavy metals in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, synthesizing evidence on how MPs adsorb metals, alter their bioavailability, and facilitate their transfer up food chains, compounding toxicological risks beyond either pollutant alone.
Microplastic-mediated environmental behavior of metal contaminants: mechanism and implication
This review examines how microplastics interact with heavy metals across water, soil, and air environments, acting as carriers that concentrate and transport toxic metals. Researchers found that microplastics can increase the bioavailability and toxicity of metal contaminants to living organisms. The study highlights major gaps in current analytical methods and calls for better tools to understand these complex pollutant interactions.
Assessing potential toxicity and metal bioavailability of secondary microplastics using in-vitro human gastric models
This study assessed the potential toxicity and metal bioavailability of sediment samples from an aquatic environment, evaluating how co-occurring microplastics may influence metal toxicity by altering metal speciation and uptake. The results highlight complex interactions between plastic particles and metal contaminants in sediments.
Interaction of microplastics with metal(oid)s in aquatic environments: What is done so far?
This review assembled the mechanisms by which microplastics sorb hazardous metals and metalloids in aquatic environments, examining how weathering, biofilm formation, and environmental conditions influence the transport and bioavailability of these contaminants.
Exploring the release of microplastics' additives in the human digestive environment by an in vitro dialysis approach using simulated fluids
Researchers used an in vitro dialysis method with simulated digestive fluids to simultaneously assess both the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of plastic additives released from microplastics during human digestion. The study found that biopolymer microplastics released approximately four times more additives than conventional petroleum-based plastics, and that mechanical recycling and marine aging altered additive release patterns, raising questions about the safety assumptions around biodegradable plastics.
Desorption of bisphenol A from microplastics under simulated gastrointestinal conditions
Researchers investigated bisphenol A desorption from three types of microplastics under simulated gastrointestinal conditions, finding that ingested microplastics can release adsorbed BPA during digestion, posing potential health risks.
Influence of Microplastics on the Mobility, Bioavailability, and Toxicity of Heavy Metals: A Review
This review examines how microplastics interact with heavy metals in the environment, potentially influencing the metals' mobility, bioavailability, and toxicity to living organisms. Researchers found that microplastics can adsorb heavy metals and transport them to new locations, but the interactions depend on the type of plastic, metal, and environmental conditions. The study highlights that microplastics acting as carriers for toxic metals represents an underappreciated environmental and health risk.
Adsorption of trace metals by microplastic pellets in fresh water
Researchers measured the adsorption of trace metals by microplastic pellets in freshwater, finding that pellets accumulate metals from the surrounding water, potentially concentrating metals and altering their bioavailability to aquatic organisms.
Microplastics and potentially toxic elements: A review of interactions, fate and bioavailability in the environment
This review summarizes how microplastics interact with toxic metals in the environment, finding that microplastics absorb and transport metals through soil and water via processes like electrostatic attraction and surface bonding. When organisms consume microplastics carrying toxic metals, they can experience greater harm than from either pollutant alone. This combined threat is relevant to human health because contaminated microplastics in the food chain could deliver concentrated doses of toxic metals to people through food and water.
Metal leaching from plastics in the marine environment: An ignored role of biofilm.
Researchers investigated how biofilms on marine plastics influence metal leaching, finding that microbial colonization significantly alters the release rates of metal additives from common polymers, representing a previously underappreciated pathway for heavy metal transfer from plastic debris into marine ecosystems.
Interactions between microplastics (MPs) and trace/toxic metals in marine environments: implications and insights—a comprehensive review
This review examines how microplastics interact with trace and toxic metals in ocean environments, finding that plastic particles can adsorb metals onto their surfaces and alter how those metals move through marine ecosystems. These interactions can increase metal toxicity, reduce the availability of essential nutrients for marine life, and disrupt ocean food chains in ways that may ultimately affect seafood safety for humans.
Metal and metalloid content, bioavailability and sorption processes in glitter and raw glitter materials and associations with human and ecological risk concerns.
Researchers analyzed metal and metalloid content in glitter particles and raw glitter materials, finding elevated concentrations of several potentially toxic elements, and assessed the human and ecological risk associated with glitter as a widespread microplastic contaminant in aquatic environments.
Particulate plastics as a vector for toxic trace-element uptake by aquatic and terrestrial organisms and human health risk.
This paper reviews evidence that microplastics and nanoplastics act as carriers for toxic trace elements like lead, mercury, and cadmium in both aquatic and terrestrial environments, concentrating these metals on their surfaces. The authors assess how adsorption of heavy metals onto plastic particles may increase human and wildlife exposure risks, and discuss how environmental conditions influence metal uptake by plastics.