Rauert Cassandra, Charlton Nathan, Bagley Angus, Dunlop Sarah A, Symeonides Christos, Thomas Kevin V
Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, Queensland 4102, Australia.
Minderoo Centre - Plastics and Human Health, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, Queensland 4102, Australia.
Environ Sci Technol. 2025 Feb 4;59(4):1984-1994. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.4c12599. Epub 2025 Jan 24.
Humans are constantly exposed to micro- and nanosized plastics (MNPs); however, there is still limited understanding of their fate within the body, partially due to limitations with current analytical techniques. The current study assessed the appropriateness of pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) analysis for the quantification of a range of polymers in human blood. An extraction protocol that reduced matrix interferences (false positives) of polyethylene (PE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was developed and validated. Extraction recoveries ranged 7-109%, although surface-modified polystyrene (carboxylated) increased nanoparticle recoveries from 17 to 52%. Realistic detection limits were calculated for each polymer, accounting for matrix suppression and extraction recovery. These were up to 20 times higher than nominal detection limits calculated with Milli-Q water. Finally, the method was tested with a pilot study of the Australian population. PE interferences were reduced but still present, and no other polymers were above detection limits. It was concluded that Py-GC-MS is currently not a suitable analysis method for PE and PVC in biological matrices due to the presence of interferences and nonspecific pyrolysis products. Furthermore, while it is plausible to detect some polymers in blood, the estimated exposure concentrations needed are approaching the detection limits of the technique.
人类不断接触微塑料和纳米塑料（MNPs）；然而，目前对它们在体内的归宿仍了解有限，部分原因是当前分析技术存在局限性。本研究评估了热解气相色谱 - 质谱联用（Py - GC - MS）分析在定量人体血液中一系列聚合物方面的适用性。开发并验证了一种减少聚乙烯（PE）和聚氯乙烯（PVC）基质干扰（假阳性）的提取方案。提取回收率在7% - 109%之间，不过表面改性聚苯乙烯（羧基化）使纳米颗粒回收率从17%提高到了52%。针对每种聚合物计算了实际检测限，同时考虑了基质抑制和提取回收率。这些实际检测限比用超纯水计算的标称检测限高出多达20倍。最后，该方法在一项针对澳大利亚人群的初步研究中进行了测试。PE干扰有所减少但仍然存在，且没有其他聚合物超过检测限。得出的结论是，由于存在干扰和非特异性热解产物，Py - GC - MS目前不是生物基质中PE和PVC的合适分析方法。此外，虽然在血液中检测某些聚合物是可行的，但所需的估计暴露浓度已接近该技术的检测限。
