TY - JOUR A1 - Stock, V. A1 - Fahrenson, C. A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Donmez, M. H. A1 - Voss, L. A1 - Bohmert, L. A1 - Braeuning, A. A1 - Lampen, A. A1 - Sieg, H. T1 - Impact of artificial digestion on the sizes and shapes of microplastic particles JF - Food and chemical toxicology N2 - Current analyses show a widespread occurrence of microplastic particles in food products and raise the question of potential risks to human health. Plastic particles are widely considered to be inert due to their low chemical reactivity and therefore supposed to pose, if at all only minor hazards. However, variable physicochemical conditions during the passage of the gastrointestinal tract gain strong importance, as they may affect particle characteristics. This study aims to analyze the impact of the gastrointestinal passage on the physicochemical particle characteristics of the five most produced and thus environmentally relevant plastic materials polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate and polystyrene. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and subsequent image analysis were employed to characterize microplastic particles. Our results demonstrate a high resistance of all plastic particles to the artificial digestive juices. The present results underline that the main stages of the human gastrointestinal tract do not decompose the particles. This allows a direct correlation between the physicochemical particle characteristics before and after digestion. Special attention must be paid to the adsorption of organic compounds like proteins, mucins and lipids on plastic particles since it could lead to misinterpretations of particle sizes and shapes. KW - Artificial digestion KW - Gastrointestinal barrier KW - Microplastic KW - Oral uptake KW - Particle size PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2019.111010 VL - 135 SP - 111010 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-49999 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Paul, M. B. A1 - Fahrenson, C. A1 - Givelet, L. A1 - Herrmann, T. A1 - Loescher, K. A1 - Böhmert, L. A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Braeuning, A. A1 - Sieg, H. T1 - Beyond microplastics ‑ investigation on health impacts of submicron and nanoplastic particles after oral uptake in vitro JF - Microplastics and Nanoplastics N2 - The continuously increasing use of plastics is supposed to result in a rising exposure of MNPs to humans. Available data on human health risks of microplastics after oral uptake increased immensely in the past years and indicates very likely only low risks after oral consumption. Concerning nanoplastics, uptake, transport and potential adverse effects after oral uptake are less well understood. This study aims to investigate differences between microplastic particles and particles in the submicron- and nanoscaled size derived from food-relevant polymers with a particle size range consistent with higher potential for cellular uptake, fate, and effects when applied to human intestinal and liver cells. This work includes the development of cellular and subcellular detection methods for synthetic polymeric particles in the micro- and nanometer-range, using Scanning Electron Microscopy, Small-Angle X-ray and Dynamic Light Scattering methods, Asymmetric Flow Field Flow Fractionation, octanol-water fractionation, fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Polylactic acid (250 nm and 2 μm (polydisperse)), melamine formaldehyde (366 nm) and polymethylmethacrylate (25 nm) were thoroughly characterized. The submicro- and nanoplastic test particles showed an increased uptake and transport quantity through intestinal cells. Both types of particles resulted in observed differences of uptake behavior, most likely influenced by different lipophilicity, which varied between the polymeric test materials. Toxic effects were detected after 24 h only in overload situations for the particles in the submicrometer range. This study provides further evidence for gastrointestinal uptake of submicro- and nanoplastics and points towards differences regarding bioavailability between microplastics and smaller plastic particles that may result following the ingestion of contaminated food and beverages. Furthermore, the results reinforce the importance for studying nanoplastics of different materials of varying size, surface properties, polymer composition and hydrophobicity. KW - Small-angle X-ray scattering KW - SAXS KW - nanoparticle PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-550741 DO - https://doi.org/10.1186/s43591-022-00036-0 VL - 2 SP - 1 EP - 19 PB - Springer Nature AN - OPUS4-55074 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -