A novel extraction protocol of nano-polystyrene from biological samples

Hongying Gao; Yi Lin; Jie Wei; Yike Zhang; Hong Pan; Miaomiao Ren; Jin Li; Liuying Huang; Xi Zhang; Qingyu Huang; Heqing Shen

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148085

A novel extraction protocol of nano-polystyrene from biological samples

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Oct 10:790:148085. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148085. Epub 2021 May 28.

Authors

Hongying Gao¹, Yi Lin², Jie Wei³, Yike Zhang², Hong Pan², Miaomiao Ren², Jin Li², Liuying Huang⁴, Xi Zhang⁵, Qingyu Huang⁵, Heqing Shen⁶

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
³ Department of Basic Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
⁴ Fujian Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering College of Materials, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China. Electronic address: hqshen@xmu.edu.cn.

PMID: 34111795
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148085

Abstract

Toxicological data demonstrate that nanoplastics (NPs) can cause direct adverse health effects. However, a method for quantifying NPs in biological samples is lacking to date. In this study, a diatomite associated coagulation-sedimentation extraction (CSE) protocol was developed to selectively enrich polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NP) from microplastics (PS-MP) in the digest of animal tissues, which were then analyzed using pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We demonstrate that 0.02 g of 7-μm diatomite can selectively adsorb 70-nm PS-NP in 5 mL oyster digest. The method works in the range of 0.006-5 μg PS-NP per 0.5 g wet weight tissue, which has been verified via samples of environmentally contaminated oysters and chow diet PS-NP-treated C57BL/6 mice (digestive tract, kidney, and liver tissues). The particle size-dependent colloidization or buoyancy theoretically supported the general CSE procedure. This work will pave the way for assessing human exposure to NPs and associated health risks.

Keywords: Biological samples; Extraction protocol; Nanoplastics; Pyrolysis gas chromatography–mass spectrometry.

MeSH terms

Animals
Humans
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Microplastics
Nanoparticles*
Plastics
Polystyrenes / analysis
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Microplastics
Plastics
Polystyrenes
Water Pollutants, Chemical