Detection of microplastics in human nasal mucosa

Introduction Environmental pollution with microplastics (MP) and the associated exposure of the human organism to these polymers is a global problem that is currently receiving increasing public and scientific attention. MP is absorbed, for instance, via the respiratory tract, can persist in the body and trigger inflammation, for example. To date, there are no studies on the extent to which MP accumulates in the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract and which polymers can be detected there. In the present study, we therefore analyzed human nasal mucosa samples for the presence of MP.

Material and methods Samples obtained during sinus surgery were weighed and chemically digested using the Fenton reaction. The samples were filtered, the MP was collected and characterized under light microscopic control. The material was subsequently analyzed using Raman microspectroscopy. The collected data were normalized to tissue-free control samples.

Results In the tissue samples we identified mainly colored fibers with a length of several 100 µm and a diameter of>10 µm. The Raman measurements sometimes caused the fibers to be destroyed or showed background signals. However, some of these fibers provided clear Raman spectra that we were able to assign to polystyrene, for example, using reference spectra.

Discussion This study is the first to demonstrate MP from primary human upper respiratory tract mucosal biopsies. Known disadvantages of Raman spectroscopy in the analysis of some of the polymers were confirmed. The experiments should therefore be supplemented in the future by additional analysis methods. Further experiments will examine the occurrence of MP in different patient groups.

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
19. April 2024