nanoplastics

They are used to give plastic products their distinctive durability, bendability and sleek, nonstick surface.Yet some of these chemical additives have been tied to maladies such as breast and prostate cancer, heart disease and diabetes, as well as problems with children’s brain development and adult fertility.Of particular concern are a class of additives known as endocrine disruptors — chemicals that mimic and confuse hormone signaling in humans. Aggressive and impactful reporting on climate change,…

The average litre of bottled water has nearly a quarter million pieces of ever-so-tiny nanoplastics, detected and categorized for the first time by a microscope using dual lasers.Scientists long figured there were lots of these microscopic plastic pieces, but until researchers at Columbia and Rutgers universities did their calculations they never knew how many or what kind.Looking at five samples each of three common bottled water brands, researchers found particle levels ranged from 110,000 to 400,000 per litre,…

It seems anywhere scientists look for plastic, they find it: from the ice in Antarctica, to the first bowel movement produced by newborn babies. Now, researchers are finding that the amount of microscopic plastics floating in bottled drinking water is far greater than initially believed. Using sophisticated imaging technology, scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty laboratory examined water samples from three popular brands (they won’t say which ones) and found hundreds of thousands of bits of plastic per…

Plastics are affecting our environment and possibly even our health in troubling ways – and the tiniest pieces have now been linked to changes in brain proteins associated with certain types of dementia, including Parkinson's disease.A team led by researchers from Duke University in the US looked at the relationship between nanoplastics broken down from polystyrene and the protein alpha-synuclein.A buildup of aberrant forms of this protein has previously been observed in the brains of people with Parkinson's."Parkinson's…

Nanoplastics are tiny plastic particles measuring less than 100 nanometers in size. They are created from the breakdown of larger plastic debris, such as water bottles and plastic bags, and are prevalent in both marine and terrestrial environments. The small size of nanoplastics allows them to easily enter and interact with organisms, posing a potential threat to the ecosystem and food chain.The impact of PET particles on zebrafish was examined by researchers.PET, the plastic commonly used to manufacture bottles, is a…

A new study of chicken embryos suggests that sufficient concentrations of teensy nanoplastics speckles could interfere with the earliest stages of development, glugging up stem cells from which tissues and organs usually emerge.These tissue defects, the study authors say, are "far more serious and extensive than has been previously reported" and include heart defects, which have not been described before in animal studies of microplastics.Under the focused gaze of fluorescent microscopes, biologist Meiru Wang of Leiden…

We already know that tiny waterborne plastic waste particles can enter the bodies of fish, which are then consumed by humans. New research, however, shows that such particles can enter the food chain via another route, by traveling from the land, through plants to insects to fish.For the study, scientists at the University of Eastern Finland started by growing lettuce in soil containing 250-nanometer-wide polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) particles. These plastics were chosen because they make up a large percentage…

Plastic particles no larger than a micrometer are known as nanoplastics.Scientists Use Apples To Remove NanoplasticsTop Image: Pectin Bottom Image: Polystyrene particles (Average Size: 100 nm). Credit: Hiroshi Moriwaki, Shinshu UniversityEcosystems are known to accumulate microplastics, and the breakdown of microplastics produces nanoplastics. Nanoplastics are plastic particles that are smaller than 100 nm that disperse in water in a colloidal state.Although nanoplastics may be more common than microplastics, their small…

Today's filtration technologies do a wonderful job of producing potable water, but the spread of plastic waste throughout the environment means there are new threats to contend with. A new study has investigated the performance of different techniques when it comes to removing nanoplastics from water, and shown that biologically active systems known as slow sand filters can remove the tiny particles with 99.9 percent efficacy.As the even smaller sibling of already troubling microplastics, nanoparticles have come into…