Potential risk of microplastics in processed foods: Preliminary risk assessment concerning polymer types, abundance, and human exposure of microplastics

Qianhui Lin; Shasha Zhao; Lihua Pang; Cuizhu Sun; Lingyun Chen; Fengmin Li

doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.114260

Potential risk of microplastics in processed foods: Preliminary risk assessment concerning polymer types, abundance, and human exposure of microplastics

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2022 Dec 1:247:114260. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.114260. Epub 2022 Nov 4.

Authors

Qianhui Lin¹, Shasha Zhao¹, Lihua Pang¹, Cuizhu Sun², Lingyun Chen³, Fengmin Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Coastal Environmental Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
² Institute of Coastal Environmental Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China. Electronic address: scz@ouc.edu.cn.
³ Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2P5, Canada.
⁴ Institute of Coastal Environmental Pollution Control, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China; Sanya Oceanographic Institution, Ocean University of China, Sanya 572000, China; Marine Ecology and Environmental Science Laboratory, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266071, China. Electronic address: lifengmin@ouc.edu.cn.

PMID: 36343455
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.114260

Abstract

The occurrence of microplastics (MPs) has been widely reported in human foodstuffs, and their potential negative effects on human health have been brought into focus. Processed foods are more susceptible to MPs as contamination can be introduced during processing and packaging. However, the risk posed by MPs in processed foods remained unclear. This work aims to critically review the available data for MPs in 11 types of possessed foods and to conduct a preliminary risk assessment of MPs in processed foods. For a comprehensive evaluation, three indicators were selected and determined, namely chemical risk, pollution load, and estimated daily intake (EDI). Our results suggest that nori has the highest chemical risk, followed by canned fish, beverages, table salt, and other food items. In the case of pollution load, nori and milk fall into the risk category of Ⅳ and Ⅲ respectively. Table salts, bottled water, and sugar exhibited lower MPs pollution load (risk category of Ⅱ), whereas the pollution loads of other foods were calculated to be category Ⅰ. Moreover, a correlation between the pollution load of sea salts and MPs pollution level in ambient seawater was found. Regarding EDI of MPs from different processed foods, MPs intakes through bottled water (14.3 ± 3.4 n kg^-1 d^-1) and milk (6.6 ± 2.4 n kg^-1 d^-1) are significantly higher than that of the other foods (< 1 n kg^-1 d^-1). The probabilistic estimation of MPs daily intake indicated that children (19.7 n kg^-1 d^-1) are at a higher health risk than adults (female: 17.6 n kg^-1 d^-1, male: 12.6 n kg^-1 d^-1). Nevertheless, the exposure dose used in toxicological studies was about 10 times higher than the MPs intake via processed foods. Therefore, we argued that MPs in processed foods only carry limited risk. Overall, this study would provide the basis for risk management of MPs in processed food products.

Keywords: Chemical risk; Human health; Microplastic; Pollution load; Processed food.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Adult
Animals
Child
Drinking Water*
Female
Humans
Male
Microplastics
Milk
Plastics
Polymers
Porphyra*
Risk Assessment
Salts
Sodium Chloride, Dietary
Vegetables

Substances

Microplastics
Plastics
Polymers
Drinking Water
Salts
Sodium Chloride, Dietary