Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Department of Biology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway.
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Department of Biology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway.
Environ Int. 2024 Jul;189:108791. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108791. Epub 2024 May 31.
Plastics constitute a vast array of substances, with over 16000 known plastic chemicals, including intentionally and non-intentionally added substances. Thousands of chemicals, including toxic ones, are extractable from plastics, however, the extent to which these compounds migrate from everyday products into food or water remains poorly understood. This study aims to characterize the endocrine and metabolism disrupting activity, as well as the chemical composition of migrates from plastic food contact articles (FCAs) from four countries as significant sources of human exposure. Fourteen plastic FCAs covering seven polymer types with high global market shares were migrated into water and a water-ethanol mixture as food simulants according to European regulations. The migrates were analyzed using reporter gene assays for nuclear receptors relevant to human health and non-target chemical analysis to characterize the chemical composition. Chemicals migrating from each FCA interfered with at least two nuclear receptors, predominantly targeting pregnane X receptor (24/28 migrates). Moreover, peroxisome proliferator receptor gamma was activated by 19 out of 28 migrates, though mostly with lower potencies. Estrogenic and antiandrogenic activity was detected in eight and seven migrates, respectively. Fewer chemicals and less toxicity migrated into water compared to the water-ethanol mixture. However, 73 % of the 15 430 extractable chemical features also transferred into food simulants, and the water-ethanol migrates exhibited a similar toxicity prevalence compared to methanol extracts. The chemical complexity differed largely between FCAs, with 8 to 10631 chemical features migrating into food simulants. Using stepwise partial least squares regressions, we successfully narrowed down the list of potential active chemicals, identified known endocrine disrupting chemicals, such as triphenyl phosphate, and prioritized chemical features for further identification. This study demonstrates the migration of endocrine and metabolism disrupting chemicals from plastic FCAs into food simulants, rendering a migration of these compounds into food and beverages probable.
塑料由大量物质构成，其中已知的塑料化学物质超过 16000 种，包括有意添加和无意添加的物质。数千种化学物质，包括有毒物质，可从塑料中提取出来，但这些化合物从日常产品迁移到食物或水中的程度仍知之甚少。本研究旨在描述从四个国家的塑料食品接触材料（FCAs）中迁移出的化学物质的组成、对内分泌和新陈代谢的干扰作用，因为这些 FCAs 是人类接触的重要来源。根据欧洲法规，将七种具有高全球市场份额的聚合物类型的 14 种塑料 FCAs 迁移到水和水-乙醇混合物中作为食品模拟物。使用核受体报告基因测定法分析迁移物，以评估其对人类健康的影响，并采用非靶向化学分析来描述其化学组成。每种 FCA 迁移出的化学物质至少干扰了两种核受体，主要针对孕烷 X 受体（24/28 种迁移物）。此外，28 种迁移物中有 19 种激活了过氧化物酶体增殖物激活受体 γ，尽管大多数的活性较低。8 种迁移物具有雌激素活性，7 种迁移物具有抗雄激素活性。与水-乙醇混合物相比，水的迁移物中化学物质较少，毒性也较低。然而，15430 种可提取化学特征中有 73%也转移到了食品模拟物中，且水-乙醇的迁移物与甲醇提取物相比具有相似的毒性普遍性。FCAs 之间的化学复杂性差异很大，有 8 至 10631 种化学特征迁移到了食品模拟物中。使用逐步偏最小二乘回归，我们成功地缩小了潜在活性化学物质的列表，鉴定出了一些已知的内分泌干扰化学物质，如三苯基磷酸酯，并优先考虑了一些化学特征进行进一步鉴定。本研究表明，塑料 FCAs 中的内分泌和新陈代谢干扰化学物质会迁移到食品模拟物中，这些化合物很可能会迁移到食物和饮料中。
