Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health and Safety, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Maternal Fetal Medicine, Preventative Gynecology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Environ Pollut. 2022 Dec 1;314:120174. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120174. Epub 2022 Sep 13.
Constant exposure to plastics particulates has raised concerns against human health, particularly when it comes to birth outcomes. The present study explores the first appraisal of plastic particles in fresh human placenta and its association with foetal growth in neonates. Specifically, 43 pregnant women from general population were selected and their placentas were analyzed by digital microscopy and Raman microspectroscopy for microplastics (MPs <5 mm). We used regression analysis to estimate associations between MPs count in placenta and neonatal anthropometric measurements. MPs were found in all (13 out of 13) intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) pregnancies and their average abundance ranged from 2 to 38 particles per placenta, but were less than limit of detection (LOD) in normal pregnancies except three out of 30 subjects. This study is one of very few that detected MPs in human placenta in which particles <10 μm were the most abundant in both IUGR and normal pregnancies, accounting for up to 64%. Fragments clearly prevailed at normal pregnancies and fragments together with fibers predominated at IUGR placentas. Despite four different polymers forming the MPs being identified, the majority of MPs comprised of PE (polyethylene) and PS (polystyrene). Inverse associations between MPs exposure and birth outcomes were observed in terms of birth weight (r = - 0.82, p < 0.001), length (r = - 0.56, p < 0.001), head circumference (r = - 0.50, p = 0.001), and 1-min Apgar score (r = - 0.75, p < 0.001) among those with IUGR, compared to those that were nominated as normal pregnancies. While it seems plastic particles may affect placental-foetal interrelationship, the pattern of associations between their content in placenta and birth outcomes, however, shows evidence of a nonlinear or nonmonotonic dose response possibly through perturbation of gas and nutrients exchange which is worth future investigation.
长期接触塑料颗粒会对人类健康产生影响，尤其是对胎儿发育。本研究首次评估了新鲜人胎盘中的塑料颗粒及其与新生儿胎儿生长的关系。具体来说，从普通人群中选择了 43 名孕妇，并用数字显微镜和拉曼微光谱法分析了他们的胎盘，以检测微塑料（MPs<5mm）。我们使用回归分析来估计胎盘中 MPs 计数与新生儿人体测量学测量值之间的关联。结果发现，所有（13/13）宫内生长受限（IUGR）妊娠的胎盘中都发现了 MPs，其平均丰度范围为每个胎盘 2 至 38 个颗粒，但除 30 名孕妇中的 3 名外，在正常妊娠中低于检测限（LOD）。这项研究是少数几项在人胎盘中检测到 MPs 的研究之一，其中<10μm 的颗粒在 IUGR 和正常妊娠中最为丰富，占比高达 64%。在正常妊娠中，碎片明显占主导地位，而在 IUGR 胎盘中，碎片和纤维则占主导地位。尽管鉴定出了四种形成 MPs 的不同聚合物，但大多数 MPs 由 PE（聚乙烯）和 PS（聚苯乙烯）组成。在 IUGR 中，与出生结局呈负相关，具体表现为出生体重（r=-0.82，p<0.001）、长度（r=-0.56，p<0.001）、头围（r=-0.50，p=0.001）和 1 分钟 Apgar 评分（r=-0.75，p<0.001），与被指定为正常妊娠的孕妇相比。虽然塑料颗粒似乎会影响胎盘-胎儿的相互关系，但它们在胎盘中的含量与出生结局之间的关联模式表明，这种关联可能是非线性或非单调的，其原因可能是气体和营养物质交换受到干扰，这值得进一步研究。
