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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Unraveling the impacts of photolysis-induced aging microplastics on enhanced immunotoxicity and nephrotoxicity
ClearPolyethylene, whose surface has been modified by UV irradiation, induces cytotoxicity: A comparison with microplastics found in beaches
Researchers showed that polyethylene microplastics degraded by UV light, mimicking what happens to plastics in the environment, were toxic to immune and skin cells in lab tests. Fresh, undegraded plastic particles did not cause the same harm, meaning weathered microplastics found in nature are likely more dangerous than the pristine plastics typically used in lab studies. This suggests that real-world human exposure to environmentally aged microplastics may carry greater health risks than current research indicates.
UVB-Aged Microplastics and Cellular Damage: An in Vitro Study
Researchers compared the cellular damage caused by UV-aged versus new microplastic particles using lab-grown human cells. They found that UV-aged microplastics caused significantly more DNA damage and oxidative stress than pristine particles, likely due to chemical changes on their surfaces during weathering. The findings suggest that environmentally weathered microplastics may pose greater health risks than freshly produced ones.
New Insights into the Mechanisms of Toxicity of Aging Microplastics
This study showed that UV-aged polypropylene microplastics are significantly more toxic than fresh ones, absorbing more chemicals and generating more harmful reactive oxygen species in seawater. The aged particles caused greater damage to cell membranes in mussels compared to pristine plastics. Since most microplastics in the ocean have been weathered by sunlight, real-world exposure risks may be higher than laboratory studies using new plastics suggest.
UVB-aged microplastics and cellular damage : An in vitro study
Researchers conducted in vitro experiments to assess whether UVB-aged microplastics cause greater cellular damage than unaged plastics, given that UV irradiation fragments and chemically alters plastic surfaces. The study found that UVB aging enhanced the capacity of microplastics to cause cellular toxicity.
Impact of Degradation of Polyethylene Particles on Their Cytotoxicity
Researchers found that degradation of polyethylene particles altered their cytotoxicity, with weathered and fragmented PE showing different toxic effects on cells compared to pristine particles, suggesting environmental aging changes microplastic health risks.
In Vitro Assessment Reveals the Effects of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals on the Toxicity of Photoaged Tire Wear Particles
Researchers examined how tire wear particles change when exposed to sunlight and found that the aging process generates environmentally persistent free radicals on their surfaces. These radicals significantly increased the toxicity of the particles in laboratory cell tests, causing oxidative stress and DNA damage. The study suggests that weathered tire particles may be more harmful than freshly released ones, adding a new dimension to microplastic pollution concerns.
Contaminant release from aged microplastic
Researchers exposed recycled plastic granules of polyethylene, PVC, and polystyrene to simulated aging conditions including UV radiation and high temperatures. They found that aging significantly increased the rate at which chemical additives leached from the plastic particles into water, with UV exposure having the greatest effect. The study highlights that weathered microplastics in the environment may release harmful chemicals at much higher rates than fresh plastic materials.
Photoaging of polystyrene-based microplastics amplifies inflammatory response in macrophages
Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics aged by sunlight exposure for just three hours triggered stronger inflammatory responses and DNA damage in immune cells than fresh microplastics, even at very low concentrations. The aging process changed the particles' surface properties, making them more biologically reactive. Since most microplastics in the real world have been weathered by sunlight, this study suggests their actual health impact may be greater than lab studies using pristine particles indicate.
The generation of environmentally persistent free radicals on photoaged microbeads from cosmetics enhances the toxicity via oxidative stress
Researchers studied how sunlight aging affects microbeads from cosmetics and their potential toxicity. They found that UV exposure generates persistent free radicals on the plastic surface, which significantly increased harmful effects on the roundworm C. elegans, including reduced reproduction and elevated oxidative stress. The findings suggest that weathered microplastics from personal care products may be considerably more toxic than their freshly manufactured counterparts.
Enhanced hepatic metabolic perturbation of polystyrene nanoplastics by UV irradiation-induced hydroxyl radical generation
Researchers found that ultraviolet light exposure changes the surface properties of polystyrene nanoplastics, making them more toxic to mouse livers than untreated particles. The UV-altered nanoplastics caused greater disruption to liver metabolism, triggering increased oxidative stress and inflammatory responses. The study highlights that environmental weathering can make nanoplastics more harmful over time, which means laboratory studies using pristine particles may underestimate real-world health risks.
New insights into the size-independent bioactive potential of pristine and UV-B aged polyethylene microplastics
Scientists tested how UV light aging changes polyethylene microplastics and their effects on human immune cells (lymphocytes) from blood samples. Both new and UV-aged microplastics reduced cell viability and triggered DNA damage, regardless of particle size. This suggests that microplastics in the environment may harm human immune cells whether they are freshly produced or have been weathered by sunlight.
Enhanced cytotoxicity of photoaged phenol-formaldehyde resins microplastics: Combined effects of environmentally persistent free radicals, reactive oxygen species, and conjugated carbonyls
Researchers studied how photoaging affects the toxicity of phenol-formaldehyde resin microplastics, a common inhalable particle released during manufacturing. They found that UV exposure changed the surface chemistry and increased the cytotoxicity of these microplastics, partly due to the release of environmentally persistent free radicals. The study suggests that weathered microplastics may pose greater health risks than freshly produced particles, particularly through inhalation exposure.
Treatment of polyethylene microplastics degraded by ultraviolet light irradiation causes lysosome-deregulated cell death
Researchers found that polyethylene microplastics degraded by ultraviolet light were more toxic to cells than pristine microplastics, triggering a type of cell death linked to lysosome dysfunction. UV exposure changed the surface chemistry of the particles, making them more reactive and harmful to cellular structures. The study highlights that weathered microplastics in the environment may pose greater health risks than newly produced plastic particles.
Environmentally persistent free radicals on photoaging microplastics shortens longevity via inducing oxidative stress in Caenorhabditis elegans
Researchers found that microplastics aged by sunlight develop persistent free radicals on their surface that are more toxic than fresh microplastics. In experiments with a common laboratory worm, these sun-aged microplastics caused significant oxidative stress and shortened lifespan. This is important because most microplastics in the real world have been exposed to sunlight, meaning their actual health risks may be greater than studies using brand-new plastic particles would suggest.
Photoaged polystyrene nanoplastics induce perturbation of glucose metabolism in HepG2 cells via oxidative stress
Researchers exposed human liver cells to polystyrene nanoplastics with varying degrees of UV-induced aging and found that photoaged particles caused more severe disruptions to glucose metabolism than pristine ones. Long-term photoaged nanoplastics triggered dose-dependent metabolic disorders through oxidative stress, while pristine particles only caused effects at high concentrations. The study suggests that weathered nanoplastics in the environment may pose greater health risks than fresh plastic particles.
Accelerated photoaging of microplastic - polyethylene terephthalate: physical, chemical, morphological properties and pesticide adsorption
Researchers subjected polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics to accelerated photoaging under simulated sunlight, characterizing changes in surface chemistry, crystallinity, and mechanical properties over time. Photoaging increased surface oxidation, reduced molecular weight, and enhanced the release of plastic additives, suggesting aged PET microplastics present greater chemical hazard than pristine particles.
Aged fragmented-polypropylene microplastics induced ageing statues-dependent bioenergetic imbalance and reductive stress: In vivo and liver organoids-based in vitro study
Researchers tested UV-aged polypropylene microplastics from everyday plastic cup lids on mice and lab-grown liver tissue, finding that more heavily aged particles caused greater liver damage. The aged microplastics disrupted energy production in liver cells and caused a harmful buildup of antioxidant molecules, suggesting that the weathered microplastics people encounter in daily life may be more toxic than pristine ones.
Mechanistic insights into non-negligible toxicity evolution of microplastics under different aging processes
This review examines how different environmental aging processes, such as UV exposure, mechanical wear, and chemical weathering, change the physical and chemical properties of microplastics and alter their toxicity. Researchers found that aged microplastics and the chemicals they leach tend to be more harmful to organisms than fresh particles, causing growth inhibition and genetic damage. The findings suggest that the environmental risks of microplastics may increase significantly as they degrade over time.
Environmentally persistent free radicals on photoaged microplastics from disposable plastic cups induce the oxidative stress-associated toxicity
Researchers found that when disposable plastic cups break down under UV light, they generate persistent free radicals on their surfaces that cause toxic effects in living organisms. These sun-aged microplastics reduced movement, growth, and reproduction in nematode worms through oxidative stress at environmentally realistic concentrations. The study shows that weathered microplastics from everyday items like disposable cups may be more harmful than fresh plastics because of the reactive chemicals generated during breakdown.
New Sight of Renal Toxicity Caused by UV‐Aged Polystyrene Nanoplastics: Induced Ferroptosis via Adsorption of Transferrin
Researchers discovered that polystyrene nanoplastics aged by sunlight caused more severe kidney damage in mice than fresh nanoplastics, triggering a type of cell death called ferroptosis. The sun-aged particles grabbed onto a blood protein called transferrin, which carries iron into cells, causing iron overload and cell damage in kidney tissue. This is concerning because most nanoplastics in the real world have been weathered by UV light, meaning they may be more harmful to human kidneys than laboratory studies using fresh plastics suggest.
Formation of environmentally persistent free radicals on microplastics under UV irradiations
This study found that UV light from the sun creates long-lasting free radicals on the surface of microplastics, with stronger UV producing more radicals faster. These environmentally persistent free radicals are chemically reactive and can damage cells and DNA. The finding is important because it means sunlight-weathered microplastics in the environment may be more harmful than fresh plastics, carrying these damaging free radicals into the body when ingested or inhaled.
Enhancement of biological effects of oxidised nano- and microplastics in human professional phagocytes
Researchers studied how virgin and environmentally aged polystyrene nano- and microplastics affect human immune cells (monocytes and macrophages). The study found that oxidized particles, which simulate environmental aging, caused significantly greater DNA damage and oxidative stress than virgin particles, suggesting that weathered plastics in the environment may pose higher health risks.
Developing environmentally relevant test materials for microplastic research through UV-induced photoaging
Researchers used UV irradiation to create photoaged microplastics from multiple polymer types as environmentally relevant test materials for ecotoxicology research, characterizing how aging changes surface chemistry, particle size distribution, and potential biological effects.
UV weathering alters toxicity and chemical composition of consumer plastic leachates
Researchers examined how UV weathering changes the toxicity and chemical makeup of leachates from eight types of consumer plastic products. They found that UV exposure increased cytotoxicity up to 13-fold, particularly for polyethylene leachates, and enhanced reactive toxicity by up to 82%. The increased toxicity was primarily linked to the release and transformation of organic chemicals rather than the microplastic particles themselves, highlighting UV weathering as a critical driver of plastic pollution hazards.