Ragusa Antonio, Notarstefano Valentina, Svelato Alessandro, Belloni Alessia, Gioacchini Giorgia, Blondeel Christine, Zucchelli Emma, De Luca Caterina, D'Avino Sara, Gulotta Alessandra, Carnevali Oliana, Giorgini Elisabetta
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Università Campus Bio Medico di Roma, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 200, 00128 Roma, Italy.
Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy.
Polymers (Basel). 2022 Jun 30;14(13):2700. doi: 10.3390/polym14132700.
The widespread use of plastics determines the inevitable human exposure to its by-products, including microplastics (MPs), which enter the human organism mainly by ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact. Once internalised, MPs may pass across cell membranes and translocate to different body sites, triggering specific cellular mechanisms. Hence, the potential health impairment caused by the internalisation and accumulation of MPs is of prime concern, as confirmed by numerous studies reporting evident toxic effects in various animal models, marine organisms, and human cell lines. In this pilot single-centre observational prospective study, human breastmilk samples collected from N. 34 women were analysed by Raman Microspectroscopy, and, for the first time, MP contamination was found in 26 out of 34 samples. The detected microparticles were classified according to their shape, colour, dimensions, and chemical composition. The most abundant MPs were composed of polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and polypropylene, with sizes ranging from 2 to 12 µm. MP data were statistically analysed in relation to specific patients' data (age, use of personal care products containing plastic compounds, and consumption of fish/shellfish, beverages, and food in plastic packaging), but no significant relationship was found, suggesting that the ubiquitous MP presence makes human exposure inevitable.
塑料的广泛使用决定了人类不可避免地会接触到其副产品，包括微塑料（MPs），微塑料主要通过摄入、吸入和皮肤接触进入人体。一旦进入体内，微塑料可能穿过细胞膜并转移到身体的不同部位，触发特定的细胞机制。因此，微塑料内化和积累所导致的潜在健康损害备受关注，众多研究证实了微塑料在各种动物模型、海洋生物和人类细胞系中具有明显的毒性作用。在这项单中心前瞻性观察性试点研究中，对从34名女性收集的母乳样本进行了拉曼光谱分析，首次在34个样本中的26个样本中发现了微塑料污染。根据检测到的微粒的形状、颜色、尺寸和化学成分进行分类。最常见的微塑料由聚乙烯、聚氯乙烯和聚丙烯组成，尺寸范围为2至12微米。针对特定患者数据（年龄、使用含塑料化合物的个人护理产品、食用鱼类/贝类、塑料包装的饮料和食品）对微塑料数据进行了统计分析，但未发现显著相关性，这表明微塑料无处不在，人类接触不可避免。
