Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Assessing the toxicity of nanoplastics using the primary human bronchial epithelial model

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/3197xv881

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  • Emerging data showing the presence of atmospheric microplastics (MPs) has recently raised awareness surrounding the potential of human nanoplastics (NPs) exposure. Due to factors such as weathering, UV exposure, and other biodegradation processes, plastic pollution in the environment breaks down over time into micro (<5 micrometers) and nanoscale (<1000nm) particles. The materials have since been found in personal care products, food and beverage products, and in soil, water and air samples as well. These findings caused concern that led to an increase in in vitro studies of NPs, most of which show the potential toxicity of NPs to a variety of cell types in culture. Despite suggestion of human exposures, little data exists on the inhalation toxicity of NPs, especially for plastics varying in type or shape. Using primary human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC), this study evaluated the potential for NPs to induce cytotoxicity, mitochondrial membrane damage, and oxidative stress across varying concentrations of plastic types and shapes. Cryomilled polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polylactic acid (PLA) and similar sized polystyrene nanospheres (200 nanometers) were tested in HBEC for these endpoints. Although oxidative stress results were inconclusive, we observed that both forms of polystyrene showed significant cytotoxicity at a concentration of 3.2E+7 and 9.9E+9 particles/microliter, while PLA showed trends of cytotoxicity at highest concentrations. All treatments showed the potential for mitochondrial membrane damage across the range of concentrations. PET was the only treatment that did not elicit statistically significant impacts across all assays. This study aims to explore the relevance of utilizing spherical polystyrene nanospheres (PS nanospheres) to infer the behavior of diverse, non-spherical nanoplastics, those that are predominantly found in the environment. Overall, our findings suggest that both plastic shape and composition may play a role in toxicity after inhalation exposures.
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