First occurrence and risk assessment of microplastics in enteral nutrition formulas

Başaran B., Aytan Ü., Şentürk Y.

FOOD AND CHEMICAL TOXICOLOGY, cilt.191, 2024 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 191
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.fct.2024.114879
  • Dergi Adı: FOOD AND CHEMICAL TOXICOLOGY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, PASCAL, Aqualine, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), BIOSIS, Biotechnology Research Abstracts, CAB Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, EMBASE, Environment Index, Food Science & Technology Abstracts, Pollution Abstracts, Veterinary Science Database
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Plastic, Enteral nutrition, Dietary exposure, Toxicity, Human health, Microplastics load index, Polymeric hazard index
  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Occurrence and characteristics of microplastics were evaluated in enteral nutrition formulas, for the first time. A total of 30 samples belonging to 9 brands were analysed. Physical and chemical characteristics of microplastics were identified by stereomicroscopy and micro-raman spectroscopy, respectively. The mean number of microplastics was 45 ± 63 MP/L. Two different shapes of microplastics were detected with fibres (62%) being the most common microplastics followed by fragments (38%). The most common color of microplastics was black (37%) followed by blue (26%), orange (15%), green (7%), red (7%), grey (4%) and multicolor (4%). The length of microplastics ranged from 10 to 2086 μm with an average of 548 ± 526 μm. Estimated mean daily microplastic intake for four different scenarios varied between 24 to 61 and 30 to 76 MPs/day for women and men, respectively. The mean polymer hazard index and microplastic load index levels were calculated as 380 and 1.30, respectively. The results of this study showed that microplastics are prevalent in enteral nutrition products. The presence of polymers with high hazard risk scores in enteral nutrition formulas may pose a risk to the health of patients with special nutritional needs.