Presence of microplastics and nanoplastics in food, with particular focus on seafood

Abstract

Following a request from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), the EFSA Panel for Contaminants in the Food Chain was asked to deliver a statement on the presence of microplastics and nanoplastics in food, with particular focus on seafood. Primary microplastics are plastics originally manufactured to be that size, while secondary microplastics originate from fragmentation. Nanoplastics can originate from engineered material or can be produced during fragmentation of microplastic debris. Microplastics range from 0.1 to 5,000 μm and nanoplastics from approximately 1 to 100 nm (0.001–0.1 μm). There is no legislation for microplastics and nanoplastics as contaminants in food. Methods are available for identification and quantification of microplastics in food, including seafood. Occurrence data are limited. In contrast to microplastics no methods or occurrence data in food are available for nanoplastics. Microplastics can contain on average 4% of additives and the plastics can adsorb contaminants. Both additives and contaminants can be of organic as well of inorganic nature. Based on a conservative estimate the presence of microplastics in seafood would have a small effect on the overall exposure to additives or contaminants. Toxicity and toxicokinetic data are lacking for both microplastics and nanoplastics for a human risk assessment. It is recommended that analytical methods should be further developed for microplastics and developed for nanoplastics and standardised, in order to assess their presence, identity and to quantify their amount in food. Furthermore, quality assurance should be in place and demonstrated. For microplastics and nanoplastics, occurrence data in food, including effects of food processing, in particular, for the smaller sized particles (< 150 μm) should be generated. Research on the toxicokinetics and toxicity, including studies on local effects in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, are needed as is research on the degradation of microplastics and potential formation of nanoplastics in the human GI tract.

The Influence of New and Artificial Aged Microplastic and Leachates on the Germination of Lepidium sativum L.

“…Due to its ubiquitous use, low cost, and the single-use throwaway culture, plastic pollution has become a severe environmental problem [2]. Plastic debris as a source of waste and chemical pollution is detected not only in oceans, forming huge swirling patches in areas, but also soil, sediment, freshwater bodies, and even human stool [3,4].…”

Detection of nanoplastics in food by asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation coupled to multi-angle light scattering: possibilities, challenges and analytical limitations

“…It is well known that oceans and water sources are contaminated with microplastic particles (0.1-5000 µm, microplastics) resultant from the worldwide accumulation of plastic pollution [1][2][3][4]. Microplastics can be formed by fragmentation and weathering of larger plastic debris in the oceans, rivers and lakes [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Microplastics can also be directly transferred to oceans and water sources from waste waters (e.g.…”

“…fibers from clothes, plastic beads in cosmetics and other products), human activity (e.g. residues from ship industry) or by atmospheric deposition (tyre dust) [1][2][3][4][5][6]. The three most reported polymer types in microplastics are polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS), which are the most produced plastic polymers (according to production in the U.S.A. in 2012) [2,3].…”

The influence of microplastics and halogenated contaminants in feed on toxicokinetics and gene expression in European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax)

“…However, exposure studies related to microplastics and their additives/contaminants carried out with mussels confirm that microplastics and its sorbed contaminants do not represent a risk for consumers as they would increase only in insignificant amount the concentration for Bisphenol A, PCBs and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (Li et al, 2016). Moreover, several authors state that the contribution of microplastics to the dispersion of chemical contaminants in the environment where they already are abundant does not seem to be significant (Lohman, 2017, Koelmans et al, 20132016;EFSA 2016). Some studies, however, highlighted that the effect of chemical contaminants is enhanced by the presence of microplastics (Pedá et al, 2016;Rainieri et al, 2018).…”