Nanoplastics: Status and Knowledge Gaps in the Finalization of Environmental Risk Assessments

Abstract

Nanoplastics (NPs) are particles ranging in size between 1 and 1000 nm, and they are a form of environmental contaminant of great ecotoxicological concern. Although NPs are widespread across ecosystems, they have only recently garnered growing attention from both the scientific community and regulatory bodies. The present study reviews scientific literature related to the exposure and effects of NPs and identifies research gaps that impede the finalization of related environmental risk assessments (ERAs). Approximately 80 articles published between 2012 and 2021 were considered. Very few studies (eight articles) focused on the presence of NPs in biotic matrices, whereas the majority of the studies (62 articles) assessed the lethal and sublethal effects of NPs on aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Whilst many studies focused on nude NPs, only a few considered their association with different aggregates. Amongst NPs, the effects of polystyrene are the most extensively reported to date. Moreover, the effects of NPs on aquatic organisms are better characterized than those on terrestrial organisms. NP concentrations detected in water were close to or even higher than the sublethal levels for organisms. An ERA framework specifically tailored to NPs is proposed.

Submicron- and nanoplastic detection at low micro- to nanogram concentrations using gold nanostar-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates

“…However, very few studies have managed to detect nanoplastics within complex environmental or food samples. 7,8 Furthermore, concern has been raised regarding the reliability of data currently being reported, 7 and the current state-of-the-art relies heavily on destructive thermal techniques [3][4][5][6] that prevent measurement repetition for a given sample.…”

The endocrine disrupting effects of nanoplastic exposure: A systematic review

“…The measured environmental concentrations of NPs resulted extremely low ranging from 1.67 µg/L in tap water (Li et al, 2022b) to 46.5 µg/L in snow samples (Materić et al, 2020, 2021). In line with the emerging scientific interest in environmental exposure assessment, also the attention to the potential toxic effects of NPs on living organisms has significantly grown in recent years, considering that these contaminants can be potentially more harmful than MPs (Masseroni et al, 2022). However, although the NP research is a very fast moving area, our current NP understanding remains in a formative phase, due to the limited data regarding both the environmental exposure and toxic effects of NPs at realistic environmental concentrations (Wang et al, 2021; Yee et al, 2021).…”