ecosystems, allowing for reproducible data and large-scale studies. Plastic nanoparticles( visible only under a microscope and with dimensions less than 1,000 nanometers, i. e. about 50-100 times smaller than the diameter of a hair) have attracted the attention of the scientific community for their ability to cross biological membranes such as the intestinal and the blood-brain barrier, increasing their potential toxicity towards marine organisms.“ Nanoparticles can cause effects such as cellular toxicity, neurotoxicity, genotoxicity, oxidative stress, metabolic alterations, inflammation and malformations in the development of marine species, but the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying |
these impacts are not yet fully understood,” Saraceni points out.
A GLOBAL PROBLEM: POLLUTION AND PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT The contamination of marine and freshwater environments by nanoplastics is considered a global threat to the living organisms that inhabit them. Plastic production worldwide was over 400 million tons in 2022 and the most recent estimates predict that it will double in the next 20 years to triple by 2060. Most plastic waste is not managed properly: only 9 % is recycled, 19 % incinerated and the rest ends up in landfills or uncontrolled disposal sites. This contributes to the accumulation
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of plastic in the environment, and marine ecosystems suffer the greatest impact: it is estimated that more than 171 trillion plastic particles accumulate in the marine environment, degrading into smaller fragments. Polystyrene is one of the most common non-biodegradable plastics and contributes significantly to environmental plastic pollution. Polystyrene is among the most frequently found pollutants in marine organisms, it has significantly higher toxicity than other polymers tested. Its potential toxicity to aquatic organisms and ecosystems remains a concern and, for this reason, further research is needed to investigate the long-term effects on a larger scale”, concludes Saraceni. |
Italian technology plast / April 2025 |
www. plastmagazine. it |
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