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Microplastic (MP) contamination has been identified as an ecological problem with an increasing impact on everyday life. Yet, possible effects of MP at the cellular level are still poorly understood. Here, the interaction of murine macrophages (J774A.1, ImKC) and epithelial cells (STC-1, BNL CL.2) with well-characterized poly(styrene) MP particles (MPP) of varying sizes (0.2–6.0 µm) was studied. Macrophages are expected to actively engulf particles which could be confirmed in this study, while epithelial cells are found in tissues with direct contact with ingested or inhaled MPP. Here, the epithelial cells from both investigated cell lines did not ingest MPP in significant numbers. Concomitantly, no cytotoxic effects nor any influence on cellular proliferation were observed. Cells from the two macrophage cell lines showed high ingestion of MPP of all sizes, but cytotoxic effects were observed only for one of them (ImKC) and only at MPP concentrations above 250 µg/mL. Indications of cellular stress as well as effects on cell proliferation were observed for cell populations with high particle cell interactions.

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The article contains sections titled: 1. Introduction 2. Organic Hydroperoxides 2.1. Definition 2.2. Physical and Chemical Properties 2.3. Production and Commercial Products 3. Dialkyl Peroxides 3.1. Definition 3.2. Physical and Chemical Properties 3.3. Production and Commercial Products 4. Diacyl Peroxides 4.1. Definition 4.2. Physical and Chemical Properties 4.3. Production and Commercial Products 5. Peroxycarboxylic Acids 5.1. Definition 5.2. Physical and Chemical Properties 5.3. Production and Commercial Products 6. Peroxycarboxylic Acid Esters 6.1. Definition 6.2. Physical and Chemical Properties 6.3. Production and Commercial Products 7. Peroxycarbonates 7.1. Definition 7.2. Physical and Chemical Properties 7.3. Production and Commercial Products 8. Peroxyketals 8.1. Definition 8.2. Physical and Chemical Properties 8.3. Production and Commercial Products 9. Ketone Peroxides 9.1. Definition 9.2. Physical and Chemical Properties 9.3. Production and Commercial Products 10. Analytical Determination 11. Uses 11.1. Polymer Manufacture 11.1.1. PVC 11.1.2. LDPE (Low‐Density Polyethylene) 11.1.3. cr‐PP (cr‐Polypropylene) 11.1.4. PS (Polystyrene) 11.1.5. Poly(meth)acrylates (PMMA) 11.1.6. Others 11.2. Polymer Processing 11.2.1. UP Curing 11.2.2. Cross‐Linking of Polymers (XL) 11.3. Nonpolymer Applications 12. Safety Hazards and Legal Aspects 13. Transportation and Storage 14. Toxicology and Occupational Health

Microplastic particles are pollutants in the environment with a potential impact on ecology and human health. As soon as microplastic particles get in contact with complex (biological) environments, they will be covered by an eco-and/or protein corona. In this contribution, protein corona formation was conducted under defined laboratory conditions on polystyrene (PS) microparticles to investigate the influence on surface properties, protein corona evolution, particle−cell interactions, and uptake in two murine epithelial cells. To direct protein corona formation, PS particles were preincubated with five model proteins, namely, bovine serum albumin (BSA), myoglobin, β-lactoglobulin, lysozyme, and fibrinogen. Subsequently, the single-protein-coated particles were incubated in a cell culture medium containing a cocktail of serum proteins to analyze changes in the protein corona profile as well as in the binding kinetics of the model proteins. Therein, we could show that the precoating step has a critical impact on the final composition of the protein corona. Yet, since proteins building the primary corona were still detectable after additional incubations in a protein-containing medium, backtracking of the particle's history is possible. Interestingly, whereas the precoating history significantly disturbs particle−cell interactions (PCIs), the cellular response (i.e., metabolic activity, MTT assay) stays unaffected. Of note, lysozyme precoating revealed one of the highest rates in PCI for both epithelial cell lines. Taken together, we could show that particle history has a significant impact on protein corona formation and subsequently on the interaction of particles with murine intestinal epithelial-like cells. However, as this study was limited to one cell type, further work is needed to assess if these observations can be generalized to other cell types.