Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Metada on human bioaccessibility of phthalates and bisphenol A from microplastics

This entry provides metadata linking to a study by Lopez-Vazquez et al. that investigated the oral bioaccessibility of bisphenol A and phthalate esters leaching from microplastics under simulated fed and fasted gastrointestinal conditions, finding that digestive state significantly influenced the release of these chemical additives.

2022 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Mimicking human ingestion of microplastics: Oral bioaccessibility tests of bisphenol A and phthalate esters under fed and fasted states

Researchers simulated human digestion to measure how much bisphenol A and phthalate esters leach from polyethylene and PVC microplastics under fasting and fed conditions. They found that polar additives like dimethyl phthalate and BPA had the highest bioaccessibility, ranging from 37% to 92%, with greater release from the more flexible LDPE polymer. The study suggests that chemical additives in ingested microplastics can become bioaccessible during human digestion, with release rates depending on the plastic type and additive properties.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 43 citations
Article Tier 2

An automatic flow-through system for exploration of the human bioaccessibility of endocrine disrupting compounds from microplastics

An automated flow-through system was developed to investigate the bioaccessibility of plastic-borne contaminants in the human gastrointestinal tract using physiologically relevant body fluids. The system measured leaching rates of plastic additives under fasted and fed state conditions, providing the first mechanistic data on how ingested microplastics release chemical contaminants in the human gut.

2021 The Analyst 11 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2023 Frontiers in Marine Science 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Processes influencing the toxicity of microplastics ingested through the diet

This study investigated what happens to chemical additives in microplastics when the plastics go through cooking and human digestion. Researchers found that both culinary processes and gastrointestinal conditions caused plastics to release potentially harmful chemicals, including phthalates and bisphenol A, suggesting that microplastics in food may be a meaningful route for chemical exposure in people.

2024 Food Chemistry 5 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Exposure to microplastic associated chemicals upon oral consumption of microplastics

This thesis quantified the release of plastic-associated chemical contaminants from microplastics during simulated human digestion, measuring how much of these chemicals actually leach out under stomach and intestinal conditions. The research helps estimate the chemical exposure humans receive when they ingest microplastics through food and water.

2020 Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling
Article Tier 2

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.

2022 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 58 citations
Article Tier 2

Is bisphenol A sorbed onto microplastics less bioavailable than freely dissolved bisphenol A? Implications for the gut health in a murine model

Using an in vivo rat model, researchers tested whether bisphenol A adsorbed onto microplastics is less bioavailable in the gastrointestinal tract than freely dissolved BPA, finding that plastic-bound BPA showed altered absorption kinetics and different hormonal effects than dissolved BPA.

2025 Environmental Pollution
Article Tier 2

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.

2025
Article Tier 2

Assessment of the potential human health risk derived from metals associated to microplastics from recycled and biopolymer-based plastics

Researchers assessed the human health risk from metals associated with microplastics derived from recycled PET and polylactic acid (PLA) biopolymers using oral bioaccessibility testing, finding that intrinsic metal content increased with recycling cycles and that both materials adsorbed metals from the environment, with bioaccessible metal fractions posing potential health risks.

2022 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Bioaccessibility of plastic-related compounds from polymeric particles in marine settings: Are microplastics the principal vector of phthalate ester congeners and bisphenol A towards marine vertebrates?

Researchers studied whether microplastics are a major pathway for delivering harmful plastic chemicals like phthalates and bisphenol A to marine animals during digestion. They found that while microplastics do release these compounds under simulated gut conditions, the amounts were relatively low compared to other environmental sources. The study suggests that microplastics may not be the primary route of chemical exposure for marine vertebrates, though they still contribute to the overall burden.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 6 citations
Article Tier 2

Measuring the Effect of Dietary Microplastic on Biomagnification Potential of Environmental Contaminants and Plastic Additives

Researchers measured the effect of dietary microplastic ingestion on the biomagnification potential of hydrophobic organic contaminants and plastic additives in the gastrointestinal tract, testing competing hypotheses about whether microplastics increase, decrease, or negligibly affect contaminant uptake.

2024 TSpace
Article Tier 2

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.

2025 Environmental Pollution
Article Tier 2

Phthalates released from microplastics inhibit microbial metabolic activity and induce different effects on intestinal luminal and mucosal microbiota

Researchers used a simulated human gut model to show that intestinal microbiota accelerates the release of phthalate plasticizers from microplastics, and these released phthalates inhibit microbial metabolic activity and differentially affect luminal versus mucosal gut bacteria.

2022 Environmental Pollution 34 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics interaction with bisphenol A: Adsorption, desorption, and in vitro biological effects

Researchers studied how microplastics interact with bisphenol A (BPA), a known hormone disruptor, and found that weathered microplastics absorb and release more BPA than fresh ones. When BPA-loaded microplastics were tested on fat cells, liver cells, brain cells, and blood vessel cells, they triggered harmful effects including fat accumulation and inflammation. This shows that microplastics can act as delivery vehicles for harmful chemicals into the body, amplifying health risks beyond the plastic itself.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 6 citations
Article Tier 2

How Digestive Processes Can Affect the Bioavailability of PCBs Associated with Microplastics: A Modeling Study Supported by Empirical Data

Researchers used a simulated human digestive model to study whether gut processes change how quickly chemicals like PCBs transfer on and off microplastic particles. They found that digestive enzymes and bile salts significantly accelerated the release of these chemicals from microplastics, suggesting that the human gut environment may increase exposure to plastic-associated pollutants. The study provides new evidence that microplastics could act as carriers that release harmful chemicals more readily during digestion.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Analytical methodology for unveiling human exposure to (micro)plastic additives

Researchers reviewed laboratory and population-level methods for measuring human exposure to chemicals that leach from plastics — such as bisphenols and flame retardants — detailing how these toxic additives can be tracked through urine and blood tests after entering the body.

2024 TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Investigating the desorption of polybrominated diphenyl ethers from polyethylene microplastics to sediment

Researchers investigated how polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) desorb from polyethylene microplastics under simulated gut conditions, finding that digestive fluids with surfactants significantly enhanced PBDE release, raising concerns about gut-mediated transfer of flame retardants from ingested plastic particles.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Differential Effects of the Human Digestive Process on Petroleum- and Bio-Based Microplastics Following an In Vitro Approach to Determine Polymer Integrity and Seafood Digestibility

Researchers used an in vitro human digestion model to assess how PET and PLA microplastics affect the digestibility of three seafood species, finding that both plastic types partially resisted gastrointestinal degradation and that they differentially altered nutrient absorption from the seafood.

2025 Microplastics
Article Tier 2

A single oral exposure to polyethylene terephthalate microplastics causes mild metabolic and gastrointestinal disruption: dose and sex determinants

Researchers gave male and female rats a single oral dose of PET microplastics at 5 or 50 mg/kg and monitored metabolic rate, respiratory exchange ratio, and tissue gene expression for 18 hours, finding sex- and dose-dependent disruptions including decreased metabolic rate, altered duodenal gene expression in males, and increased serum LDL in females, suggesting mild but measurable metabolic and gastrointestinal effects.

2026 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Microscale extraction versus conventional approaches for handling gastrointestinal extracts in oral bioaccessibility assays of endocrine disrupting compounds from microplastic contaminated beach sand

Researchers evaluated multiple sample preparation strategies — including protein precipitation, liquid-liquid extraction, solid-phase extraction, and dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) — for measuring the bioaccessibility of phthalate plasticisers and bisphenol A from microplastic-contaminated beach sand using the unified bioaccessibility method (UBM). DLLME was selected as optimal based on its extraction efficiency of 73-95%, providing a validated approach for assessing human oral exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds via microplastic-contaminated soil ingestion.

2020 Environmental Pollution 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Leaching of PBDEs from microplastics under simulated gut conditions: Chemical diffusion and bioaccumulation

This study examined how polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) leach from microplastics under simulated gut conditions, finding that chemical diffusion rates were strongly influenced by gut fluid composition and that hydrophobic contaminants could transfer to organisms at levels posing potential bioaccumulation risks.

2021 Environmental Pollution 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Desorption of Bisphenol A and Dibutyl Phthalate from the Surfaces of Polyamide Microplastics: Crucial Role of Hydrophobicity

Researchers investigated the desorption of bisphenol A and dibutyl phthalate from polyamide microplastics in freshwater, finding that hydrophobicity is the primary controlling factor in plasticizer release rates. Aging treatments including NaClO, Fenton, and UV exposure altered microplastic surface properties and subsequently modified desorption behavior of both contaminants.

2025 ACS ES&T Water