TY - JOUR
T1 - Microplastics and plastics-associated contaminants in food and beverages; Global trends, concentrations, and human exposure
AU - Sewwandi, Madushika
AU - Wijesekara, Hasintha
AU - Rajapaksha, Anushka Upamali
AU - Soysa, Sasimali
AU - Vithanage, Meththika
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was carried out as a supportive literature study under a research project that is financially supported by the National Research Council , Sri Lanka ( NRC 20–117 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2023/1/15
Y1 - 2023/1/15
N2 - Microplastics has become a global concern due to their ubiquitous presence which poses unavoidable human exposure risks. Geographical distribution and yearly trends of research on microplastics, food, and beverages do not exist. Thus, no overall account is available regarding the presence of microplastics and plastics-associated contaminants in food and beverages. Hence, this attempt is to review the geographical distribution of studies through a brief bibliometric analysis and the plastics-associated contaminants including plasticizers and microplastics in food and beverages. Estimated microplastic consumption has been listed for the pool of publications reviewed here. Further, this review discusses the ingestion potency of micropollutants associated with microplastics, possible health impacts, and existing challenges. Global trend in research exponentially increased after 2018 and China is leading. Studies on microplastics were limited to a few beverages and food; milk, beer, tea, refreshing drinks, salt, sugar, honey, etc., whereas seafood and drinking water have been extensively studied. Publications on plastic-additives were reported in two ways; migration of plastic-additives from packaging by leaching and the presence of plastic-additives in food and beverages. Bisphenol A and bis(2-Ethylhexyl) phthalate were the most frequently reported both in food and beverages. Exposure of packaging material to high temperatures predominantly involves plastic-additive contamination in food and beverages. Microplastics-bound micropollutants can also be ingested through food and beverages; however, a lack of knowledge exists. The complex matrix of food or beverages and the absence of standard procedures for analysis of microplastics and micropollutants exist as challenges. More investigations on the presence of microplastics and plastic-additives in food and beverage are urgent needs to a better assessment of potential human exposure and human health risk.
AB - Microplastics has become a global concern due to their ubiquitous presence which poses unavoidable human exposure risks. Geographical distribution and yearly trends of research on microplastics, food, and beverages do not exist. Thus, no overall account is available regarding the presence of microplastics and plastics-associated contaminants in food and beverages. Hence, this attempt is to review the geographical distribution of studies through a brief bibliometric analysis and the plastics-associated contaminants including plasticizers and microplastics in food and beverages. Estimated microplastic consumption has been listed for the pool of publications reviewed here. Further, this review discusses the ingestion potency of micropollutants associated with microplastics, possible health impacts, and existing challenges. Global trend in research exponentially increased after 2018 and China is leading. Studies on microplastics were limited to a few beverages and food; milk, beer, tea, refreshing drinks, salt, sugar, honey, etc., whereas seafood and drinking water have been extensively studied. Publications on plastic-additives were reported in two ways; migration of plastic-additives from packaging by leaching and the presence of plastic-additives in food and beverages. Bisphenol A and bis(2-Ethylhexyl) phthalate were the most frequently reported both in food and beverages. Exposure of packaging material to high temperatures predominantly involves plastic-additive contamination in food and beverages. Microplastics-bound micropollutants can also be ingested through food and beverages; however, a lack of knowledge exists. The complex matrix of food or beverages and the absence of standard procedures for analysis of microplastics and micropollutants exist as challenges. More investigations on the presence of microplastics and plastic-additives in food and beverage are urgent needs to a better assessment of potential human exposure and human health risk.
KW - Emerging contaminants
KW - Microplastics
KW - Nanoplastics
KW - Packaging material
KW - Plasticizers
KW - Plastics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85143861922&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120747
DO - 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120747
M3 - Article
C2 - 36442819
AN - SCOPUS:85143861922
SN - 0269-7491
VL - 317
JO - Environmental Pollution
JF - Environmental Pollution
M1 - 120747
ER -