In Vitro High-Throughput Toxicological Assessment of Nanoplastics

Sub-micrometer particles derived from the fragmentation of plastics in the environment can en-ter the food chain and reach humans, posing significant health risks. To date, there is a lack of adequate toxicological assessment of the effects of nanoplastics (NPs) in mammalian systems, particularly in humans. In this work, we evaluated the potential toxic effects of three different NPs in vitro: two NPs obtained by laser ablation (polycarbonate (PC) and polyethylene tereph-thalate (PET1)) and one (PET2) produced by nanoprecipitation. The physico-chemical characteri-zation of the NPs showed a smaller size, a larger size distribution, and a higher degree of surface oxidation for the particles produced by laser ablation. Toxicological evaluation performed on human cell line models (HePG2 and Caco-2) showed a higher toxic effect for the particles syn-thesized by laser ablation, with PC more toxic than PET. Interestingly, on differentiated Caco-2 cells, a conventional intestinal barrier model, none of the NPs produced toxic effects. This work wants to contribute to increase knowledge on the potential risks posed by NPs.

TOLARDO Valentina;  MAGRI Davide;  FUMAGALLI Francesco;  CASSANO Domenico;  ATHANASSIOU Athanassia;  FRAGOULI Despina;  GIORIA Sabrina; 

2022-06-07

MDPI

JRC128258

2079-4991 (online),   

https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/12/12/1947,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC128258,   

10.3390/nano12121947 (online),