posted on 2022-01-25, 00:43authored byShumin Huang, Xiaoxin Huang, Ran Bi, Qiuxia Guo, Xiaolin Yu, Qinghui Zeng, Ziyu Huang, Tianming Liu, Haisheng Wu, Yuliang Chen, Jialong Xu, Yinge Wu, Pi Guo
Microplastic pollution
is an emerging environmental problem, and
little research has focused on its impact on the human body. Based
on retrospective case series, the study required participants to fill
out a questionnaire and provide sputum samples in order to investigate
the presence of microplastics in human sputum and determine whether
humans involuntarily inhale them. A total of 22 patients suffering
from different respiratory diseases were recruited. We used an Agilent
8700 laser infrared imaging spectrometer and Fourier-transform infrared
microscope to analyze sputum samples and evaluate microplastics in
the respiratory tract. Remarkably, the size range of the method for
detecting microplastics in our study is 20–500 μm. The
results showed that 21 types of microplastics were identified, and
polyurethane was dominant, followed by polyester, chlorinated polyethylene,
and alkyd varnish, accounting for 78.36% of the total microplastics.
Most of the aspirated microplastics detected are smaller than 500
μm in size (median: 75.43 μm; interquartile range: 44.67–210.64
μm). Microplastics are ubiquitous in all sputum, indicating
that inhalation is a potential way for plastics to enter the human
body. Additionally, the quantities of microplastic types in the respiratory
tract are related to smoking, invasive examination, etc. (P < 0.05). This study sheds new light on microplastic
exposure, which provides basic data for the risk assessment of microplastics
to human health.