Capodaglio Andrea G
DICAR, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 3, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
J Xenobiot. 2025 Jun 3;15(3):85. doi: 10.3390/jox15030085.
Microplastic (MP) contamination affects all environmental media, even in remote, unpopulated regions of the globe. Many studies have addressed this issue under various aspects; however, actual and definitive evidence that MPs are a cause of human health risk in actual environmental conditions has not been provided. MP decomposition generates smaller nanoplastics (NPs) with different properties, closer to engineered nanoparticles than to MP. Their detection is more complex and laborious than MP's, and, as such, their fate and effects are still poorly studied. Advanced technologies to remove MP/NPs from supply water are being investigated, but current evidence indicates that conventional drinking water treatment facilities efficiently remove a major part of MPs, at least as far as sizes greater than 20 µm. Notwithstanding recent developments in MP/NP classification and detection techniques, at the moment, very few studies specifically address NPs, which, therefore, deserve more targeted investigation. This paper addresses MPs and NPs in drinking water, examining recent current literature on their presence and state-of-the-art in risk assessment and toxicology. The paper also critically overviews treatment technologies for their removal and discusses the present knowledge gap and possible approaches to this widespread issue.
微塑料(MP)污染影响着所有环境介质,即使在全球偏远、无人居住的地区也是如此。许多研究已从各个方面探讨了这个问题;然而,尚未提供微塑料在实际环境条件下会对人类健康构成风险的确凿证据。微塑料分解会产生具有不同特性的更小的纳米塑料(NP),与工程纳米颗粒的相似性高于微塑料。对它们的检测比对微塑料的检测更复杂、更费力,因此,它们的归宿和影响仍研究不足。从供水系统中去除微塑料/纳米塑料的先进技术正在研究中,但目前的证据表明,传统的饮用水处理设施能有效去除大部分微塑料,至少对于尺寸大于20微米的微塑料是这样。尽管微塑料/纳米塑料的分类和检测技术最近有了进展,但目前专门针对纳米塑料的研究很少,因此,纳米塑料值得更有针对性的研究。本文探讨了饮用水中的微塑料和纳米塑料,审视了近期关于它们的存在情况以及风险评估和毒理学方面的最新文献。本文还对去除它们的处理技术进行了批判性概述,并讨论了目前存在的知识空白以及解决这个普遍问题的可能方法。