Dataset Information

Microplastics in Widely Used Polypropylene-Made Food Containers.

ABSTRACT: As a potential threat to human health, ingestion of microplastics (MPs) has become of concern. Limited studies have carefully characterized the occurrence of MPs in polypropylene-made takeout food containers (TOFCs), which have been widely used in China. In this study, TOFC samples (n = 210) were collected from seven Chinese cities (Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Xining, Chengdu, Qingdao, and Dalian) and analyzed for MPs. All the TOFC samples contained MPs, with an abundance of 3-43 items/TOFC. The TOFCs from Chengdu (25 items/TOFC) contained the highest mean abundance of MPs, which is significantly (p < 0.01) higher than that from Shanghai (8.7 items/TOFC). Fiber accounted for 66-87% of the total for the shape of the MPs in the TOFCs from the different Chinese cities. Most of the MPs in the TOFCs from the different cities had a size of 201-500 μm and accounted for a mean 34-42% of the total MPs in the TOFCs. The major color type of the MPs in the TOFCs was transparent, accounting for a mean 39 (Qingdao)-73% (Hangzhou) of the total MPs. Polymer compositions of the MPs in the TOFCs were consistently dominated by polypropylene, which represented a mean 56-73% of the total MPs. The estimated daily intake of MPs for the general Chinese population through using TOFCs was in the range of 0.042-0.14 items/kg bw/day. To our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive study investigating the occurrence of MPs in TOFCs from China, which contributes to a better understanding of the sources of human oral exposure to MPs.

SUBMITTER: Hu J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9786867 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Microplastics in Widely Used Polypropylene-Made Food Containers.

Hu Jun J Xu Xin X Song Ying Y Liu Wenqi W Zhu Jianqiang J Jin Hangbiao H Meng Zhu Z

Toxics 20221207 12

As a potential threat to human health, ingestion of microplastics (MPs) has become of concern. Limited studies have carefully characterized the occurrence of MPs in polypropylene-made takeout food containers (TOFCs), which have been widely used in China. In this study, TOFC samples (n = 210) were collected from seven Chinese cities (Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Xining, Chengdu, Qingdao, and Dalian) and analyzed for MPs. All the TOFC samples contained MPs, with an abundance of 3−43 items/TOFC. ...[more]

PMID: 36548595

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Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the use of disposable plastics, including medical masks, which have become a necessity in our daily lives. As these are often improperly disposed of, they represent an important potential source of microplastics in the environment. We prepared microplastics from polypropylene medical masks and characterised their size, shape, organic chemical leaching, and acute toxicity to the planktonic crustacean Daphnia magna. The three layers of the masks were separately milled and characterised. Each of the inner frontal, middle filtering, and outer layers yielded different types of microplastics: fibres were obtained from the inner and outer layer, but irregular fragments from the middle layer. The shape of the obtained microplastics differed from the initial fibrous structure of the intact medical mask layers, which indicates that the material is deformed during cryo-milling. The chemical compositions of plastics-associated chemicals also varied between the different layers. Typically, the inner layer contained more chemicals related to antimicrobial function and flavouring. The other two layers also contained antioxidants and their degradation products, plasticisers, cross-linking agents, antistatic agents, lubricants, and non-ionic surfactants. An acute study with D. magna showed that these microplastics do not cause immobility but do physically interact with the daphnids. Further long-term studies with these microplastics are needed using a suite of test organisms. Indeed, studies with other polypropylene microplastics have shown numerous adverse effects on other organisms at concentrations that have already been reported in the environment. Further efforts should be made to investigate the environmental hazards of polypropylene microplastics from medical masks and how to handle this new source of environmental burden.Please check the si word document the authors are not listed there i cannot edit that file please add the authors supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s43591-021-00020-0.

Dataset Information

Microplastics in Widely Used Polypropylene-Made Food Containers.

Publications

Microplastics in Widely Used Polypropylene-Made Food Containers.

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