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Review
. 2020 Jan 9;9(1):72.
doi: 10.3390/foods9010072.

Current Insights into Monitoring, Bioaccumulation, and Potential Health Effects of Microplastics Present in the Food Chain

Leonard W D van Raamsdonk  1 , Meike van der Zande  1 , Albert A Koelmans  2 , Ron L A P Hoogenboom  1 , Ruud J B Peters  1 , Maria J Groot  1 , Ad A C M Peijnenburg  1 , Yannick J A Weesepoel  1
Affiliations
Review

Current Insights into Monitoring, Bioaccumulation, and Potential Health Effects of Microplastics Present in the Food Chain

Leonard W D van Raamsdonk et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) are considered an emerging issue as environmental pollutants and a potential health threat. This review will focus on recently published data on concentrations in food, possible effects, and monitoring methods. Some data are available on concentrations in seafood (fish, bivalves, and shrimps), water, sugar, salt, and honey, but are lacking for other foods. Bottled water is a considerable source with numbers varying between 2600 and 6300 MPs per liter. Particle size distributions have revealed an abundance of particles smaller than 25 µm, which are considered to have the highest probability to pass the intestinal border and to enter the systemic circulation of mammals. Some studies with mice and zebrafish with short- or medium-term exposure (up to 42 days) have revealed diverse results with respect to both the type and extent of effects. Most notable modifications have been observed in gut microbiota, lipid metabolism, and oxidative stress. The principal elements of MP monitoring in food are sample preparation, detection, and identification. Identified data gaps include a lack of occurrence data in plant- and animal-derived food, a need for more data on possible effects of different types of microplastics, a lack of in silico models, a lack of harmonized monitoring methods, and a further development of quality assurance.

Keywords: analytical methods; human health; microplastic; occurrence; quality control.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
UV fluorescence images of nine types of plastic with three sets of excitation and emission wave lengths after staining with Nile Red in hexane solvent. The images were taken after full evaporation of the solvent. Exposure in terms of microseconds is indicated for proper comparison of the images. The types of plastic are ordered along their dielectric constant. Legend: PHB/PHV: polyhydroxybutyrate/polyhydroxyvalerate biopolymer; PVDC: polyvinylidene dichloride. Courtesy of Naomi Dam, Wageningen Food Safety Research.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution over size classes of the total set of examined MPs in oysters collected from the East Coast of China. The black dotted line represents a correlation of r2 = 0.972. Redrawn with permission from Elsevier from [36]. An alternative trend (red line) has been calculated ignoring the assumed underrepresented smallest class (r2 = 0.987).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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