Department of Food Hygiene, University of Veterinary Medicine, Budapest, Hungary.
Rev Environ Contam Toxicol. 2021;259:1-49. doi: 10.1007/398_2021_77.
Plastic has been an incredibly useful and indispensable material in all aspects of human life. Without it many advances in medicine, technology or industry would not have been possible. However, its easy accessibility and low cost have led to global misuse. Basically, the production of the plastics from different chemical agents is very easy but unfortunately difficult to reuse or recycle, and it is thrown away as litter, incinerated or disposed of in landfill. Plastic once in the environment begins to degrade to very small sizes. Thus, many animals mistake them for food, so plastic enters a marine, terrestrial or freshwater food web. These microplastics although chemically inert have been shown to act as tiny "bio-sponges" for harmful chemicals found in the environment changing the nature of a plastic particle from chemically harmless to potentially toxic. It was believed that microparticles would simply pass through the gastrointestinal tract of animals and humans with no biological effect. However, studies have shown that they are sometimes taken up and distributed throughout the circulatory and lymphatic system and may be stored in the fatty tissues of different organisms. The result of the uptake of them showed potential carcinogenic effects, liver dysfunction and endocrine disruption. This review focuses on micro- and nanoplastics and their way entering marine and freshwater food webs, with particular attention to microplastic trophic transfer, their toxic side effects and influence to the human consumer in health and safety in the future.
塑料在人类生活的各个方面都是一种非常有用且不可或缺的材料。没有它，医学、技术或工业的许多进步都不可能实现。然而，其易于获得和低成本导致了全球滥用。基本上，不同化学物质的塑料生产非常容易，但不幸的是，难以再利用或回收，而且通常被当作垃圾扔掉、焚烧或填埋。塑料一旦进入环境，就会开始降解成非常小的尺寸。因此，许多动物会将其误认为食物，因此塑料会进入海洋、陆地或淡水食物网。这些微塑料虽然化学惰性，但已被证明是环境中有害化学物质的微小“生物海绵”，改变了塑料颗粒从化学无害到潜在毒性的性质。人们曾认为微粒子会简单地穿过动物和人类的胃肠道，而不会产生任何生物学影响。然而，研究表明，它们有时会被吸收并分布在循环和淋巴系统中，并可能储存在不同生物体的脂肪组织中。吸收它们的结果显示出潜在的致癌作用、肝功能障碍和内分泌干扰。本文综述了微塑料和纳米塑料及其进入海洋和淡水食物网的方式，特别关注微塑料的营养转移、它们的毒性副作用以及对未来人类消费者健康和安全的影响。
