2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Simultaneous measurement of nano-plastics and additives in biological tissue and evaluation of plastic-associated chemical exposure

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	22K19843
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Review Section	Medium-sized Section 63:Environmental analyses and evaluation and related fields
Research Institution	Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
Principal Investigator	Takada Hideshige 東京農工大学, (連合)農学研究科(研究院), 教授 (70187970)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	高屋敷典生筑波大学, 医学医療系, 准教授 (00364521) 水川薫子東京農工大学, (連合)農学研究科(研究院), 講師 (50636868)
Project Period (FY)	2022-06-30 – 2024-03-31
Keywords	プラスチック汚染 / マイクロプラスチック / ナノプラスチック / ヒト血液 / PCBs / 添加剤 / ベンゾトリアゾール / 熱分解GC-MS
Outline of Final Research Achievements	The present study developed simultaneous analytical method of micro/nano-polystyrene and plastic-associated chemicals in biological samples and applied to human blood and tissue samples (liver, kidney, and lung) obtained through pathological autopsy and through comprehensive health screening. All the samples fulfilled the human-ethical guidelines. One mL of blood samples were extracted with DCM. The extracts were hydrolysed and were subjected to GPC to separate monomers/oligomers and polymers. Polymer fraction was analyzed by pyrolysis GC-MS. Monomers/oligomers fraction was further purified and analyzed for PCBs and benzotriazole UV-stabilizers by GC-ECD and GC-MS. In 4 among 11 blood samples, polystyrene was significantly detected with range from 40 ng/g to 555 ng/g. PS was not significantly detected in the tissue samples, while BUVSs (UV-P, UV-326, UV-327, UV-329) with several ng/g-wet and PCBs with several tens ng/g-wet were significantly detected in some tissue samples.
Free Research Field	環境化学
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	プラスチックが微細化し、ヒトも含む生物体内に蓄積することは懸念されていたが、信頼ある分析法の欠如から、報告例は少なく、特に添加剤を含むプラスチック関連物質との同時測定例は報告されていなかった。そのような学術的な背景のもと、本研究ではマイクロ/ナノプラスチックと関連化学物質の同時測定法を開発したことの意義は大きい。今回、ヒト血液中からマイクロ/ナノプラスチックとプラスチック添加剤が検出されたことから、プラスチックという素材が微細化してヒトに影響を及ぼす可能性があることが社会的に認識される契機となった。今後この手法で測定を行われることが期待される。