What are the Fate and Effects of Micro-/Nano-Plastics on Human Health?

What are the Fate and Effects of Micro-/Nano-Plastics on Human Health? The main goal of PlasticsFatE (Plastics Fate and Effects in the Human Body) is to improve our present understanding of the impact of micro- and nano-plastics (MP/NP) and associated additives/adsorbed contaminants (A/C) in the human body. Human exposure to MP/NP may result from the widespread use of plastic products and their release to the environment, where they degrade to MP/NP particles. But plastics particles reach human and natural systems also as secondary by-products, e.g., from tyre wear or abrasion of textiles. These particles are found in food, drinking water, air and environmental media (food chain, soils). Despite recent efforts to assess human risks associated with MP/NP, our current knowledge is still insufficient. One reason is the lack of reliable and validated methods able to generate the science-based data we need. PlasticsFatE will address this challenge and associated uncertainties by implementing a comprehensive measurement and testing program ("test the test"), including inter-laboratory studies, to improve and validate the performance and applicability of available methods and tools to MP/NP. The tested and validated approaches will be used to (1) identify and detect MP/NP and A/C in a variety of complex matrices, such as food and beverages, human tissues, and consumer products as well as relevant environmental media (air, drinking water, soils), and to (2) assess their (also long-term) fate and toxicity in the human body by using advanced cell culture and organ models that simulate real exposure to MP/NP in the respiratory and gastro-intestinal tracts. PlasticsFatE is part of the newly built “European MNP cluster on human health” that will support various relevant European strategies for plastics, such as the European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy.