Deposition of polyethylene micro- and nano-plastics is associated with accumulation of cadmium in lungs of smokers: A pilot study

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2026
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Abstract
Airborne micro- and nano- plastics (MNPs) are emerging environmental toxicants which may affect lung cellular functions. Deposition of MNPs in lungs of susceptible individuals e.g. smokers, is not known. We determined the deposition of MNPs in the lungs of smokers and non-smokers. Lung tissues from age and sex-matched smokers (n = 9) and non-smokers (n = 10) were analyzed to quantify: (a) microplastic levels using pyro-GC/MS, and (b) heavy metal accumulation using ICP-MS, given the synergistic environmental effects of these pollutants. Py-GC/MS analysis showed a relatively higher level of MNPs in the lungs of smokers (43.67 mcg/gm) as compared to non-smokers (34.53 mcg/gm). We observed a significant increase in the levels of polyethylene (PE; q = 0.0128), polyvinyl chloride (PVC; q = 0.0013) and polyurethane (PU; q = 0.0485) polymers in the lungs of smokers. Pairwise comparisons of elemental analyses results found an increase in the levels of cadmium (Cd) in the lungs of smokers. Importantly, we observed a strong association (R2 = 0.6392; p = 0.005) between the amounts of accumulated PE and levels of Cd in the lungs of non-smokers versus smokers. Overall, our results show a positive correlation between bioaccumulation of polyethylene (PE) and cadmium (Cd) in the lungs based on smoking status.
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Authors Gagandeep Kaur, Md Imam Faizan, Felix Effah, Aerlin D Decker, Marcus A. Garcia, Matthew J Campen, Irfan Rahman
Journal toxicological sciences : an official journal of the society of toxicology
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/toxsci/kfag121
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/toxsci/kfag121
Keywords Keywords not found

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