Sharma Madhu D, Elanjickal Anjana I, Mankar Juili S, Krupadam Reddithota J
Environmental Materials Division, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nehru Marg, Nagpur, 440020, India.
School of Fishery Environment, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Ranangad Road, Kochi, 682506, India.
J Hazard Mater. 2020 Nov 5;398:122994. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122994. Epub 2020 May 20.
Abundance of microplastics in aquatic and marine ecosystems is contaminating the seafood and it is leading to transfer of toxic pollutants to human beings. In this article, we report the hazardous nature and cancer risk of microplastics which originate from e-waste. Capture of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) onto microplastics by adsorption phenomena and an assessment of probable cancer risk of ingested PAHs enriched microplastics by human beings have been investigated. The adsorption equilibrium was well fit for the Freundlich isotherm model. The adsorption capacity of carcinogenic PAHs on microplastics was ranged from 46 to 236 μg g and the maximum binding was achieved within 45 min in water. The leachate derived from microplastics of e-waste were highly hazardous in nature, for example, the sum of PAHs was 3.17 mg L which is about 1000 times higher than the standard for benzo[a]pyrene, a congener of PAHs. The calculated cancer risk in terms of lifetime of microplastic ingestion would be 1.13 × 10 for children and 1.28 × 10 for adults and these values are higher than the recommended value of 10. The abundance of microplastics could transfer hazardous pollutants to seafood (e.g., fishes and prawns) leading to cancer risk in human beings.
水生和海洋生态系统中大量的微塑料正在污染海产品，并导致有毒污染物向人类转移。在本文中，我们报告了源自电子垃圾的微塑料的有害性质和癌症风险。研究了通过吸附现象将致癌多环芳烃（PAHs）捕获到微塑料上，并评估了人类摄入富含PAHs的微塑料可能产生的癌症风险。吸附平衡非常符合Freundlich等温线模型。致癌PAHs在微塑料上的吸附容量为46至236μg/g，在水中45分钟内达到最大吸附量。电子垃圾微塑料产生的渗滤液本质上具有高度危害性，例如，PAHs的总量为3.17mg/L，约为PAHs同系物苯并[a]芘标准的1000倍。就摄入微塑料的终生风险而言，计算得出儿童的癌症风险为1.13×10，成人的癌症风险为1.28×10，这些值高于推荐值10。大量的微塑料会将有害污染物转移到海产品（如鱼类和对虾）中，从而导致人类患癌症的风险。
