Microplastics are chemically active and could cause biological harm
Researchers found six common plastics generated hydroxyl radicals in water, and lab tests showed damage to red blood cells and proteins.
- A new study published in Nature by researchers from Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley, found that microplastics become chemically active when interacting with water, challenging decades of assumptions about their inertness.
- Plastics are commonly used for food packaging and bottles because they are assumed to be chemically inert, yet recent research has linked microplastic exposure to heart attack, stroke, dementia, and brain tumors, prompting investigation into the mechanism.
- Columbia University chemist Wei Min explains that as plastic fragments into microscopic sizes, surface area increases more than 200-fold, and hydrophobic surfaces repel water, generating high-energy reactive radicals that can damage tissue.
- Recognizing microplastics as a public health priority, the Environmental Protection Agency added them to a federal contaminant list and the U.S. government launched a $144 million program to combat toxic microplastics in the human body.
- Future work could lead to engineering solutions, as researchers aim to connect fundamental interfacial chemistry with biological effects to redesign commodity plastics and reduce toxic outcomes on human health and the environment.
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34 Articles
Scientists discover water-triggered reactions that may explain microplastic harm
Researchers found that six common types of microplastics spontaneously generate reactive oxygen species at their interfaces with water, with more hydrophobic plastics showing greater chemical activity. Laboratory experiments also linked these surface properties to biomolecular adsorption, protein aggregation, and mouse red blood cell damage, although the implications for human health remain uncertain.
Hanford Sentinel
Microplastics trigger inflammation linked to disease and death. Now scientists appear to have discovered why
Plain old water could be responsible for making plastics harmful to people, according to a new study that portends significant consequences for human health. The study, published Thursday in the prominent scientific journal Nature, found chemical reactions between water and…
Microplastics trigger inflammation linked to disease and death. Now scientists appear to have discovered why.
Chemical reactions between water and six types of fossil fuel-based plastic created particles that damaged red blood cells and proteins in laboratory tests, research shows.
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