Assessing the release of microplastics and nanoplastics from plastic containers and reusable food pouches: implications for human health
Hussain KA, Romanova S, Okur I, Zhang D, Kuebler J, Huang X, Wang B, Fernandez-Ballester L, Lu Y, Schubert M, Li Y (2023). Environmental Science & Technology.
What they found
Microwaving released the most particles: some containers shed up to 4.22 million microplastics and 2.11 billion nanoplastics per square centimetre in 3 minutes. Six months in the fridge or at room temperature also released millions to billions. Modelled intake peaked at 20.3 ng/kg per day for infants drinking microwaved water and 22.1 for toddlers eating microwaved dairy. At 1,000 µg/mL, extracted particles killed about 77% of human kidney cells in a dish.
- Sample
- Polypropylene baby-food containers and a polyethylene reusable food pouch
- What it can't tell you
- Water and 3% acetic acid stood in for food. Few products. Particle counts by imaging may include non-plastic or dissolved material. The cell test used a very high dose and one cell line, so it does not show harm at real exposures. Intake model rests on the authors' assumptions.
- Funding
- Not checked (full text inaccessible). Crossref lists the US National Science Foundation and University of Nebraska programmes.
- Topics
- Food, Packaging, Baby and kids
- Checked against
- Abstract (Europe PMC, PMID 37343248); funders from Crossref
Where we cite it
- A parent's guide to plastic, from pregnancy to primary school
- Microplastics in baby bottles: what the research actually shows
- Less plastic on a budget: the changes that cost nothing or save money
- Is it safe to microwave plastic? What "microwave-safe" actually means
- Food storage without plastic: cling film, bags, wraps and freezing
- Plastic types #1 to #7: what each resin code means for your health and the bin
- Plastic-free kitchen swaps, ranked by exposure