State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510120, Guangdong, China.
School of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436, Guangdong, China.
Environ Sci Technol. 2023 Feb 14;57(6):2435-2444. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.2c06880. Epub 2023 Jan 31.
Microplastics (MPs) are abundant in air, but evidence of their deposition in the respiratory tract is limited. We conducted a prospective case series to investigate the deposition of microplastics in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and determine the internal dose of MPs via inhalation. Eighteen never-smokers aged 32-74 years who underwent fiberoptic bronchoscopy with BALF were recruited from Zhuhai, China. Control samples were obtained by performing the same procedure using isotonic saline instead of BALF. Laser direct infrared spectroscopy combined with scanning electron microscopy detected the presence and characteristics of MPs and quantitatively analyzed the microplastic in BALF and control samples. Concentrations of total and specific MPs in BALF and control samples were compared using the Wilcox test. Thirteen types of MPs were observed in 18 BALF samples. Polyethylene (PE, 86.1%) was the most abundant in BALF, followed by poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET, 7.5%) and polypropylene (PP, 1.9%). Compared with the control samples, BALF had significantly higher concentrations of PE (median [IQR] of BALF: 0.38 [8.05] N/g), PET (0.26 [0.54] N/g), polyurethane (0.16 [0.24] N/g), PP (0.16 [0.11] N/g), and total MPs (0.91 [6.58] N/g). The presence of MPs in BALF provides novel evidence that MPs penetrate deep into the respiratory tract.
微塑料（MPs）在空气中大量存在，但关于其在呼吸道沉积的证据有限。我们进行了一项前瞻性病例系列研究，旨在调查微塑料在支气管肺泡灌洗液（BALF）中的沉积情况，并通过吸入途径确定 MPs 的内剂量。我们从中国珠海招募了 18 名从未吸烟、年龄在 32-74 岁的参与者，他们接受了纤维支气管镜检查和 BALF。通过使用等渗盐水代替 BALF 进行相同的程序，获得了对照样本。激光直接红外光谱结合扫描电子显微镜检测 MPs 的存在和特征，并对 BALF 和对照样本中的微塑料进行定量分析。使用 Wilcox 检验比较 BALF 和对照样本中总 MPs 和特定 MPs 的浓度。在 18 个 BALF 样本中观察到 13 种类型的 MPs。BALF 中最丰富的是聚乙烯（PE，86.1%），其次是聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（PET，7.5%）和聚丙烯（PP，1.9%）。与对照样本相比，BALF 中 PE（BALF 的中位数 [IQR]：0.38 [8.05] N/g）、PET（0.26 [0.54] N/g）、聚氨酯（0.16 [0.24] N/g）、PP（0.16 [0.11] N/g）和总 MPs（0.91 [6.58] N/g）的浓度显著更高。BALF 中 MPs 的存在为 MPs 穿透到呼吸道深部提供了新的证据。
