2
|
Boccia P, Mondellini S, Mauro S, Zanellato M, Parolini M, Sturchio E. Potential Effects of Environmental and Occupational Exposure to Microplastics: An Overview of Air Contamination. TOXICS 2024; 12:320. [PMID: 38787098 PMCID: PMC11125735 DOI: 10.3390/toxics12050320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2024] [Revised: 04/23/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Microplastics (MPs) are now ubiquitous environmental contaminants that lead to unavoidable human exposure; they have received increasing attention in recent years and have become an emerging area of research. The greatest concern is the negative impacts of MPs on marine, fresh-water, and terrestrial ecosystems, as well as human health, to the extent that the World Health Organization (WHO) calls for increased research and standardized methods to assess exposure to MPs. Many countries and international organizations are implementing or proposing legislation in this regard. This review aims to summarize the current state of legislation, indoor and outdoor contamination, and potential human health risk due to exposure to airborne MPs, considering that occupational exposure to MPs is also becoming a growing area of concern. Even though research regarding MPs has continuously increased in the last twenty years, the effects of MPs on human health have been scarcely investigated, and toxicity studies are still limited and not directly comparable, due to the lack of standardized studies in this field.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Priscilla Boccia
- INAIL—Istituto Nazionale per L’Assicurazione Contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro, Dit, 38/40 Via Roberto Ferruzzi, 00143 Rome, Italy; (M.Z.); (E.S.)
| | - Simona Mondellini
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy; (S.M.); (M.P.)
| | - Simona Mauro
- Chemistry Department, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy;
| | - Miriam Zanellato
- INAIL—Istituto Nazionale per L’Assicurazione Contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro, Dit, 38/40 Via Roberto Ferruzzi, 00143 Rome, Italy; (M.Z.); (E.S.)
| | - Marco Parolini
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy; (S.M.); (M.P.)
| | - Elena Sturchio
- INAIL—Istituto Nazionale per L’Assicurazione Contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro, Dit, 38/40 Via Roberto Ferruzzi, 00143 Rome, Italy; (M.Z.); (E.S.)
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Sun X, Song R, Liu J, Yan S, Li Y, Jin X, Liang Y, Wu Y, Mei L, Pan R, Yi W, Song J, Cheng J, Su H. Characterization of airborne microplastics at different workplaces of the poly(ethylene:propylene:diene) (EPDM) rubber industry. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023:10.1007/s11356-023-27750-3. [PMID: 37277591 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-27750-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Microplastics (MPs) as an emerging air pollutant have received widespread attention, but research on airborne MPs at occupational sites is still limited, especially in the rubber industry. Hence, indoor air samples were collected from three production workshops and an office of a rubber factory producing automotive parts to analyze the characteristics of airborne MPs in different workplaces of this industry. We found MP contamination in all air samples from the rubber industry, and the airborne MPs at all sites mainly showed small-sized (< 100 μm) and fragmented characteristics. The abundance and source of MPs at various locations is primarily related to the manufacturing process and raw materials of the workshop. The abundance of MPs in the air was higher in workplaces where production activities are involved than in office (360 ± 61 n/m3), of which the highest abundance of airborne MPs was in the post-processing workshop (559 ± 184 n/m3). In terms of types, a total of 40 polymer types were identified. The post-processing workshop has the largest proportion of injection-molded plastic ABS, the extrusion workshop has a greater proportion of EPDM rubber than the other locations, and the refining workshop has more MPs used as adhesives, such as aromatic hydrocarbon resin (AHCR).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoni Sun
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Rong Song
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Jintao Liu
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Shuangshuang Yan
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Yuxuan Li
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Xiaoyu Jin
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Yunfeng Liang
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Yudong Wu
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Lu Mei
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Rubing Pan
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Weizhuo Yi
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Jian Song
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Jian Cheng
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China
| | - Hong Su
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China.
- Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Major Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Giambò F, Costa C, Teodoro M, Fenga C. Role-Playing Between Environmental Pollutants and Human Gut Microbiota: A Complex Bidirectional Interaction. Front Med (Lausanne) 2022; 9:810397. [PMID: 35252248 PMCID: PMC8888443 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.810397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
There is a growing interest in the characterization of the involvement of toxicant and pollutant exposures in the development and the progression of several diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, as well as in the disruption of the immune and reproductive homeostasis. The gut microbiota is considered a pivotal player against the toxic properties of chemicals with the establishment of a dynamic bidirectional relationship, underlining the toxicological significance of this mutual interplay. In fact, several environmental chemicals have been demonstrated to affect the composition, the biodiversity of the intestinal microbiota together with the underlining modulated metabolic pathways, which may play an important role in tailoring the microbiotype of an individual. In this review, we aimed to discuss the latest updates concerning the environmental chemicals–microbiota dual interaction, toward the identification of a distinctiveness of the gut microbial community, which, in turn, may allow to adopt personalized preventive strategies to improve risk assessment for more susceptible workers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Federica Giambò
- Occupational Medicine Section, Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Chiara Costa
- Clinical and Experimental Medicine Department, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Michele Teodoro
- Occupational Medicine Section, Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - Concettina Fenga
- Occupational Medicine Section, Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| |
Collapse
|