Surface Pattern Analysis of Microplastics and Their Impact on Human-Derived Cells

Abstract

Plastic is produced, used, and accumulated exponentially. Humans can take it through the food chain, and microplastics can be potentially toxic to humans. In this study, we analyzed the surface patterns of microplastics and their effects on humans using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). The surface analysis of these microplastics will be used as a standardized measurement method for microplastic detection and will be used as an indicator of the impact of environmental pollution caused by microplastics on humans. We have used a statistical method to analyze the shape of the milled microplastics and estimated the local curvature for each plastic type and found that PVC microplastics have a more rugged shape than the ABS microplastics. We also analyzed the toxicity of PVC and ABS microplastics. Larger PVC tended to induce the release of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Smaller ABS induced the release of IL-6 at high concentrations. However, larger ABS tended to induce the release of TNF-α at all concentrations. Thus, we concluded that microplastics can induce immune responses.