Aliro Villacorta

About the effects of true to life polyethylene terephthalate nanoparticles on macrophages. Plastics are emerging pollutants of great concern. Macroplastics degrade into microplastics and nanoplastics, which can accumulate in living organisms with still poorly known consequences. Nanoplastics being particulate pollutants, they are handled in animal organisms by scavenger cells such as macrophages, which are important players in the immune system.

Abstract : The human health risks posed by micro/nanoplastics (MNPLs), as emerging pollutants of environmental/health concern, need to be urgently addressed as part of a needed hazard assessment. The routes of MNPL exposure in humans could mainly come from oral, inhalation, or dermal means. Among them, inhalation exposure to MNPLs is the least studied area, even though their widespread presence in the air is dramatically increasing.