Yadav Himani, Sethulekshmi S, Shriwastav Amritanshu
Environmental Science and Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400 076, India.
Environmental Science and Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400 076, India.
Environ Res. 2022 Nov;214(Pt 1):113735. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113735. Epub 2022 Jun 24.
Despite the established presence of microplastics in consumable products and inhalable air and the associated health hazards, the actual extent of human exposure to microplastics is currently unknown. We estimated exposure to microplastics through 24-h composite sampling of drinking water, cooked food, and respirable air. Daily average exposures of 382 ± 205, 594 ± 269, and 1036 ± 493 particles per person were observed through drinking water, air, and food, respectively. Our estimates suggest an average daily exposure of 2012 ± 598 microplastic particles per person via these dominant routes. Considering the variety of common consumer plastics, the plastic intake was calculated to be 122.25 ± 177.38 to 202.80 ± 294.25 mg per person per day. Food ingestion was observed to be the major pathway, with fragments as the dominant particle type, followed by fibers and spherical beads. The major polymers identified in the food samples were polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, polynorbornene, nylon, polychloroprene, and copolymer polyacrylamide. These results provide a realistic estimate of urban exposure to microplastics and may be helpful in their risk characterization.
尽管消费品和可吸入空气中已存在微塑料及其相关健康危害，但目前人类接触微塑料的实际程度尚不清楚。我们通过对饮用水、熟食和可吸入空气进行24小时综合采样来估算微塑料暴露量。通过饮用水、空气和食物，每人每天的平均暴露量分别为382±205、594±269和1036±493颗微粒。我们的估算表明，通过这些主要途径，每人每天平均暴露于2012±598颗微塑料微粒。考虑到各种常见的消费塑料，计算得出每人每天的塑料摄入量为122.25±177.38至202.80±294.25毫克。观察发现食物摄入是主要途径，碎片是主要的微粒类型，其次是纤维和球形珠子。食品样本中鉴定出的主要聚合物有聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯、聚苯乙烯、聚降冰片烯、尼龙、聚氯丁二烯和共聚物聚丙烯酰胺。这些结果为城市居民接触微塑料提供了实际估算，可能有助于对其进行风险特征描述。
