Nanoplastics – Ability to Penetrate Mammalian Immune System Barriers Reported

The abstract of a February 15, 2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials paper by researchers with the Chinese Academy of Sciences https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127508 reports that “... Nanoplastics can be ingested by organisms and penetrate biological barriers to affect multiple physiological functions. However, few studies have focused on the effects of nanoplastics on the mammalian immune system. We evaluated the effects and underlying mechanism of nanoplastics of varying particle sizes and surface charges on murine splenic lymphocytes. We found that nanoplastics penetrated into splenic lymphocytes ... The nanoplastics decreased cell viability, induce cell apoptosis, up-regulated apoptosis-related protein expression, elicited the production of reactive oxygen species, altered mitochondrial membrane potential, and impaired mitochondrial function. Positively charged nanoplastics exerted the strongest toxicity …” #MicroPlastics #NanoPlastics #PlasticWaste #SingleUsePlastic