Children's playgrounds contain more microplastics than other areas in urban parks

Isolation and identification of microplastics in infant formulas - A potential health risk for children

Microplastics (MPs) are plastic particles between 0.1 and 5,000 µm in size that can contaminate food. Unfortunately, to date, little attention has been paid to analyzing the presence of such particles in baby foods. The present study aimed to determine the degree of contamination of infant formula with MPs. A total of thirty products were subjected to analysis. The research methodology used included the isolation of plastic particles, identification and characterization of MPs using advanced microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Microplastics were detected in all tested samples. The most frequently identified polymers were polyamide, polyethylene, polypropylene, and poly(ethylene terephthalate). The particles exhibited diverse forms, including fibers, fragments, and films, displaying a range of colors such as colorless, black, and brown particles. Furthermore, the daily intake of MPs by children fed exclusively infant formula was estimated to be approximately 49 ± 32 MPs. This poses a potential health risk for the youngest.

A global review on the abundance and threats of microplastics in soils to terrestrial ecosystem and human health

Soil is the source and sink of microplastics (MPs), which is more polluted than water and air. In this paper, the pollution levels of MPs in the agriculture, roadside, urban and landfill soils were reviewed, and the influence of MPs on soil ecosystem, including soil properties, microorganisms, animals and plants, was discussed. According to the results of in vivo and in vitro experiments, the possible risks of MPs to soil ecosystem and human health were predicted. Finally, in light of the current status of MPs research, several prospects are provided for future research directions to better evaluate the ecological risk and human health risk of MPs. MPs concentrations in global agricultural soils, roadside soils, urban soils and landfill soils had a great variance in different studies and locations. The participation of MPs has an impact on all aspects of terrestrial ecosystems. For soil properties, pH value, bulk density, pore space and evapotranspiration can be changed by MPs. For microorganisms, MPs can alter the diversity and abundance of microbiome, and different MPs have different effects on bacteria and fungi differently. For plants, MPs may interfere with their biochemical and physiological conditions and produce a wide range of toxic effects, such as inhibiting plant growth, delaying or reducing seed germination, reducing biological and fruit yield, and interfering with photosynthesis. For soil animals, MPs can affect their mobility, growth rate and reproductive capacity. At present epidemiological evidences regarding MPs exposure and negative human health effects are unavailable, but in vitro and in vivo data suggest that they pose various threats to human health, including respiratory system, digestive system, urinary system, endocrine system, nervous system, and circulation system. In conclusion, the existence and danger of MPs cannot be ignored and requires a global effort.

Dynamic fluctuations in plant leaf interception of airborne microplastics

Plant leaves have been demonstrated to be a crucial sink of airborne microplastics (MPs). However, because of the particular shape of MPs and their relatively weak forces with leaves, the traditional accumulation model used for the adsorption of particulate matter and persistent organic pollutants may not be appropriate for describing the interception of MPs by leaves. Here, we performed a 7-day exploration of the interception of MPs by leaves in downtown Nanning. The abundances and characteristics of leaf-intercepted MPs showed dramatic diurnal fluctuations and interspecies differences (conifers > arbors > shrubs). The fluctuation (Coefficient of Variation (CV) = 0.459; abundances 0.003 ± 0.002 to 0.047 ± 0.005 n·cm-2) was even more drastic than that measured across species (CV = 0.353; 0.06 ± 0.01 to 0.40 ± 0.04 n·cm-2). Further analysis using partial least-squares path modeling demonstrated that stomatal variation and divergence largely dominated diurnal fluctuations and interspecies differences in microplastic interception by leaves, respectively. Our results highlight that the leaf-intercepted MPs is characterized by dynamic fluctuations rather than static equilibrium and reveal the important regulatory roles played by leaf micromorphological structures in intercepting MPs, thus enhancing our understanding of the interactions between terrestrial plants and airborne pollution.