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“Microplastic – from weathering to potential toxicity”

 

   Microplastic is generally defined as fragments of plastic under 5 mm in size. Primary microplastics include any plastic fragments or particles that are already 5.0 mm in size or smaller before entering the environment. However, secondary microplastics arise from the degradation (breakdown) of larger plastic products through natural weathering processes after entering the environment. Therefore, it is important to understand the transformation of microplastics in nature and track their potential toxicity to humans.

 

   Our research on the transformation of microplastics aims to achieve two objectives: 1) to analyze the transformation behavior of plastics under simulated environmental conditions, and 2) to track the degree of change in the actual natural environment. We focus on changes in the chemical structure of plastics, specifically in terms of polymeric structure, as well as changes in physical properties. This study contributes to shedding light on the basic understanding of plastic transformation in nature.

 

   Our research on the potential toxicity to the human body aims to understand the complex potential toxicity of microplastics on the human body. We focused on analyzing the toxicity of microplastics that have undergone transformation in actual environmental conditions. We tested the effects of microplastics on pregnant women, fetuses, infectious lung diseases, and cancer proliferation. This study contributes to understanding the potential threat of microplastics, in terms of the impact of engineered microplastics and actual weathered microplastics.