In vitro bioavailability of migrants from microplastics by dispersive solid-phase extraction using liposome-based (magnetic) composites

Abstract

[eng] Plastic is the most ubiquitous pollution material worldwide and its accumulation in the environment is an important problem nowadays. Approximately 4 million tons of plastic waste go from the land to the ocean annually, making it the largest plastic dump. Plastic waste undergoes degradation processes in the environment producing microscopic fragments described as microplastics (MPs), which can leak some of their own additives or act as an accumulator absorbing contaminants from the medium. Most of these compounds are not yet regulated and are called contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). The accidental introduction of plastic borne CECs into the food chain can eventually affect the human health based on their bioavailability (BAV). The traditional log P parameter may not serve to predict BAV since it only takes into account the hydrophobicity of the compound but not the real interaction with the cells of living beings. This work aims to evaluate the BAV of ten CECs of pharmaceutical origin in human body by in-vitro studies using soybean phosphatidylcholine-based liposomes as a biomimetic cell membrane to simulate the absorption across the small intestine of organic pollutants. For this purpose, liposomes have been covalently attached onto polymeric monolithic surfaces and used to isolate the bioavailable part of CECs via (magnetic) dispersive biomimetic solid phase extraction as a novel approach to simplify the conventional tedious in-vitro BAV studies.