Guidelines for Production of your research article for MHUM009
Guidelines for Production of your research article for MHUM009
Students should provide
A pdf version submitted electronically with tables, figures and references embedded. We recommend pdf to avoid any issues with formatting. The folder will be set to overwrite so only the latest version you submit by the deadline will be marked.
A copy of the abstract into the designated ABSTRACT FOLDER (for use during viva). If you are having an early viva, this doesnt need to be the final version as it is not marked only used for reference.
The research Paper should be submitted as a single document with the following sections in the following order. You have a word limit of 4000 to excluded titles, abstract, figure legends, tables and references. Essentially the primary text between the start of your introduction and the end of your discussion will count.
Title Page: containing the students name, the title of the project, the supervisor(s) and any collaborators and institutions. If you like it is also common to add on a University crest or emblem.
Abstract: each paper must open with an abstract of not more than 400 words. The abstract can either be a single paragraph of continuous text outlining the aims of the work, the experimental approach taken, the principal results and the conclusions and their relevance to nutritional science OR you can split up into sections with sub-headings.
Abbreviations: Please include a list of abbreviations used under the abstract, although these will still need to be defined within the text the first time they are used
Introduction: it is necessary to introduce a paper with an account of the relevant literature (background to the project), the introduction should indicate the nature of the question asked and the reasons for asking it. It should typically be about four pages in length (although this is only a guide). At the end of your introduction section you should outline both the aims, objectives and the hypothesis for your project.
Experimental methods: methods should appear after the introduction. The methods section must include a subsection that describes the methods used for statistical analysis and the sample size must be justified with appropriate power/sample size calculations and be related to the study outcomes. Enough detail should be provided so that the work could be repeated, however it is acceptable to refer to a published method if one exists and include only an outline description. If human subjects were used, a statement of the ethical approval must also be included, and the ethics number/trial registration provided. I would advise you to look at some example papers that have used similar methods to you, to see the detail they provide and also the structure.
All analytical procedures must be accompanied by a statement of within and between assay precision (CV).
Results: a factual account of what was found these should be given as concisely as possible, using figures or tables as appropriate. Data must not be duplicated in tables and figures and should not be interpreted in this section. There are usually no references in a results section. A result can also be defined as some data you didnt have before you started your study.
Discussion: the discussion of the significance of the results with reference to the work of others. The discussion is not simply a repetition of the results and/or introduction. Students may also find that additional or alternative sections such as conclusions may be useful. The discussion should typically be four to six pages in length (although again only a guide as all projects are different).
References: these should be given in the text using either the Harvard or the Vancouver system. You should use a referencing manager as this will make your life a lot easier. References to material available on websites should include the full Internet address, and the date of the version cited.
Figures: should be incorporated into the article text. Each figure should include a detailed figure legend that is informative and would allow the figure to be understood without reference to the rest of the article. Figures should be numbered and also referred to within the text. (Please refer to the examples I have provided on SurreyLearn).
(Supplementary Figures) can also be included at the end of the article, these should be numbers S1, S2 etc and should again be references within the text. A supplementary figure is something you feel you need to have available for the marker, but which might impact on the flow of your article.
Tables: each should carry headings describing their content and should be comprehensible without reference to the text. Again these should be referred to within the text of the article and numbered consecutively. Footnotes may be provided for tables and all abbreviations should be defined.
Acknowledgements: A specific mention to anyone that has helped you
There is no limit to the number of figures and tables that you can include, but more is not always better.
The following is a guide only but remember, presentation is important so single spaced font 8 is not going to do you any favours.
General formatting and Instructions: Please prepare your paper using Times New Roman font 12, with 1.5cm line spacing and 2cm margins. The paper has an absolute word limit of 4,000 and an abstract word limit of 400. Please state the word count after the abstract (for the abstract) and before the reference section (for the main document, not including the abstract).
Only text from the beginning of the introduction to the end of the discussion is included in the word limit (so abstract, abbreviations, figures, tables, legends, acknowledgments and references do not count).
Although guidance has been given to the approximate length of the introduction and discussion sections, this will vary depending on the individual project. The primary aim will be to produce a paper which is balanced, with the discussion and introduction sections of a similar length.
Turnitin: The University now checks all students work for plagiarism using Turnitin. You are advised to check your research paper before submission. There is no specific value used as a cut-off with turnitin, instead, as module organiser I will open up the reports and examine the nature of the matches that have been highlighted. Many highlights often refer to stock phrases and are found within the methods..however, if you find complete sentences within the introduction or discussion, you may need to reword these sections prior to your final submission.
EXAMINING THE POTENTIAL HEALTH RISKS OF MICROPLASTICS IN MILK AND DEVELOPING TARGETED STRATEGIES FOR MITIGATION
ABSTRACT
Introduction
Microplastics sizes smaller than 0.2 mm have been found in dietary milk and it has several harmful impacts on human health due to their neurotoxicity, carcinogenic effect, genotoxicity and several others. Based on this, the research will explore the potential health risks of micro plastics in Milk and will develop targeted strategies for mitigation.
Methods
A systematic review using 18 articles collected from the PubMed and Google Scholar database will be conducted.
Search termsIn order to search the articles, search terms "Microplastics" AND "Milk" AND "Human Health" have been used.
Quality tools
Quality assessment qualitative criteria have been used currently and will be used in future research.
Exclusion criteria
The research excludes articles that have a low cut-off range and are not published in the English language.
Table of Contents
TOC h u z t "Heading 1,1,Heading 2,2,Heading 3,3,"1. Introduction32. Methods32.1 Search terms32.4 Quality Tools42.5 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria42.6 PRISMA53. Systematic Literature Review Table6References22
1. Introduction
Microplastics having sizes smaller than 0.2 mm present in dietary milk have the potential to impact human health because they have the ability to penetrate the barriers of the gut. The types of polymers which potentially endanger human health include rayon, cellophane, polyethene-polypropylene, polyethene terephthalate and polyamide (Basaran et al. 2023). Li et al. (2023), on the other hand, have discussed the possible risks associated with the microplastics present in dietary milk. These include higher oxidative stress, elevated immune response, metabolic disorder, developmental toxicity, reproductive toxicity and even neurotoxicity. Due to the harmful impact of microplastics, it is essential to develop certain targeted strategies to mitigate the presence and prevalence of microplastics in dietary milk. Basaran et al. (2023) stated that in 60% of cases, microplastics found in milk samples, caused adverse outcomes and thus, the prevalence should be lowered to a level by reducing contentions or other means.
Based on the above context, the research aims to examine the potential health risks of microplastics present in dietary milk and explore targeted strategies to mitigate the prevalence of microplastics in milk or the health risks.
Objectives
To examine the potential health risks of microplastics in milk.
Research Question
How health risks are caused by consuming microplastics in milk?
What are the consequences of potential health risks due to ingestion of microplastics in milk?
What are the long term impact of the health complication concerning the consumption of microplastics in milk?
2. Methods
2.1 Search terms
Microplastics - The microplastic is the genuine concern and in this research, it is the independent variable which has an impact on the dependent variable of the research, which is human health.
Milk - It is the medium through which the microplastic is reaching the human gut and causing health consequences. The microplastics could be transported to the gut via various means like ingestion of food, and drinking water if these mediums are contaminated (Covello et al. 2024). In that case, to specify the research aim, milk has been chosen. Moreover, microplastics in milk originate in various ways from feeding the cattle to the packaging of the milk (Basaran et al. 2023). Thus, milk is the chosen medium for research.
Health risks - This is the impact or consequences considered for the research which are the result of microplastics presence in milk. While microplastics are ingested along with milk, the chemicals might leach into the human body and affect health, possibly causing endocrine disruption that can in turn mess with growth and hormones (Parashar, 2023). The main worry is that endocrine disruption might happen which results in health issues over the long-term.
2.2 Boolean operator: Boolean operators or terms include AND, OR and NOT which are used in the search engines to broaden or narrow down the search parameters of a research (MacFarlane et al. 2022). The key search terms and boolean operator placements of the research are - "Microplastics" AND "Milk" AND "Health Risks".
2.3 DATABASE: PubMed and Google Scholar
2.4 Quality Tools
Assessing the quality of the articles chosen for systematic review is important as it ensures the chosen articles are free from bias and the methodology are appropriate and of high quality to develop strategies for the future (Ma et al. 2020). In terms of quality tools, some criteria will be considered to assess the quality of the research articles. The criteria include Methods used and methodological aspects, Statistical Review (Appropriate or not), Funded or not, Samples used, Results, Conclusion and Quality (free from bias and so on).
2.5 Inclusion and Exclusion criteria
Setting the inclusion and exclusion criteria for research is essential to increase the probability of producing reproducible and reliable results and minimise the possibility of ethical implications (Pepperdine University, 2021).
Inclusion Criteria
The research articles chosen for the research described the health risks of microplastics
The chosen articles have assessed the health risks via milk medium
The articles are published in English language
Articles published in PubMed
Articles published within the last 20 years will be chosen because very recent articles can introduce irreproducibility of the research. Fiala et al. (2017) stated that in order to reduce the irreproducibility, the researchers commonly visit the previous publications because in the new papers, through research philosophies or approaches, researchers sometimes give commentary of the previous articles. Thus, the old papers would reduce the irreproducibility of the data if considered for the research. However, due to no publication before 2014, the researcher chose to consider articles published between 2004-2024.
Exclusion Criteria
Published before 20 years
Keywords and experiments on microplastics by considering other mediums
A cut-off value below 3 will be excluded
2.6 PRISMA
Figure 1: PRISMA Screening
(Source: Self-developed)
3. Systematic Literature Review Table
Sl. No. References Methods used and methodological aspects Statistical Review (Appropriate or not) Funded or not Samples - being analysed Results Conclusion Quality
1 Kumar R, Manna C, Padha S, Verma A, Sharma P, Dhar A, Ghosh A, Bhattacharya P. Micro(nano)plastics pollution and human health: How plastics can induce carcinogenesis to humans? Chemosphere. 2022 Jul;298:134267. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134267. Epub 2022 Mar 14. PMID: 35301996. Kumar et al. (2022) involved a literature review and synthesis of the existing research on micro and nanoplastics and their impact on human health. The articles do not have statistical analysis as it is a review No information about funding No such samples as the research did not include primary research The article has discussed how microplastics and nanoplastics and associated toxic chemicals like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and others impact human health. The toxic chemicals present in the microplastics cause cancer, genotoxicity, DNA Damage, inflammation, immunological response and metabolism disruption. A detailed review is required to improve the quality.
2 Paul I, Mondal P, Haldar D, Halder G. Beyond the cradle - Amidst microplastics and the ongoing peril during pregnancy and neonatal stages: A holistic review. J Hazard Mater. 2024 May 5;469:133963. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133963. Epub 2024 Mar 6. PMID: 38461669. In this research by Paul et al. (2024), a reviewing method has been focused on analysing the microplastics during neonatal stages and pregnancy. The author has searched available scholarly articles from Google Scholar using some keywords. No such statistical review was conducted in this article The study did not receive any funding from any funding agencies The researcher has collected journal articles from Google Scholar mostly and others from WoS, Scopus and Science Direct but no primary research was done and thus, there are no samples. The study has found that neonates are exposed to microplastics every day through cow milk, infant milk powder, breast milk and plastic-based products. The authors conclude that advanced technologies should be designed for better detection of the microplastics in such products If health impacts could be analysed, the quality could increase
3 Kaseke T, Lujic T, Cirkovic Velickovic T. Nano- and Microplastics Migration from Plastic Food Packaging into Dairy Products: Impact on Nutrient Digestion, Absorption, and Metabolism. Foods. 2023 Aug 14;12(16):3043. doi: 10.3390/foods12163043. PMID: 37628042; PMCID: PMC10453031. The authors have conducted a bibliometric analysis of Achilles, book chapters and reports searched using Google Scholar database and Web of Science. Article Access Statistics were mentioned but no other methods were used The authors received funds from the European Union's Horizon Europe program, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (grant number F-26) and several other organisations. No samples were considered by the authors used only 104 articles for the review. Results showed that microplastics impact the gastrointestinal tract by disrupting the metabolism of fats, carbohydrates and proteins. Microplastics and plastic oligomers are released from food packaging materials and affect human health Meta-analysis of the articles could improve the quality
4 Yarahmadi A, Heidari S, Sepahvand P, Afkhami H, Kheradjoo H. Microplastics and environmental effects: investigating the effects of microplastics on aquatic habitats and their impact on human health. Front Public Health. 2024 Jun 6;12:1411389. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1411389. PMID: 38912266; PMCID: PMC11191580. The authors have conducted a review of articles published between 2012 to 2024 in the PubMed database. The authors only used the keywords Microplastic. No Statistical review was conducted in this research. No financial support was gained from any organisation or publication Since there is no primary research conducted in this study, the study does not include any samples. The authors found that microplastics are taken or inhaled by humans daily and thus, in various samples like sputum, breast milk, Placenta, lungs and stool, microplastics are found. Multiple initiatives and policies exist which can help mitigate the level of microplastic pollution globally and domestically. Quality can be improved by considering meta-analysis and in-depth analysis.
5 Visentin E, Manuelian CL, Niero G, Benetti F, Perini A, Zanella M, Pozza M, De Marchi M. Characterization of microplastics in skim-milk powders. J Dairy Sci. 2024 Apr 10:S0022-0302(24)00731-8. doi: 10.3168/jds.2023-24373. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38608944. This research study uses a mixed method comprising both quantitative and qualitative characterisation of microplastic in skim-milk powder samples from various European nations. Through this research, the authors highlighted that using hot alkaline digestion facilitates the efficient identification of microplastics in the skim-milk powders. This research is not funded. In this research, the authors have taken 16 samples from 8 various European countries. The research finding informs that the most excess microplastics have been polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethene and polyethene terephthalate. The findings infer that the existence of microplastics in the skim-milk powder samples indicated the effect of microplastic intake by humans. The quality of the research has been highly rich in unveiling that microplastics are present in skim milk powder in 3 various forms including irregular fragments, spheres and fibre and 6 various colours including grey, green, fuchsia, brown, blue and black.
6 Lin Q, Zhao S, Pang L, Sun C, Chen L, Li F. Potential risk of microplastics in processed foods: Preliminary risk assessment concerning polymer types, abundance, and human exposure of microplastics. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2022 Dec 1;247:114260. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.114260. Epub 2022 Nov 4. PMID: 36343455. In this research, a secondary data collection method has been applied. In addition, statistical analytics is enforced for analysing the collected data to gain insights. The authors discussed that the existence of microplastics has been reported in an extensive range of human foods in the most recent years including rice, fruits, vegetables, seafood and others. In addition, processed foods like sugar, beer, milk, beverages, etc. are found susceptible to microplastics. The research has been funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China, the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province and the Shandong Provincial Key Research and Development Program. In this research study, three types of salts are sampled. The research unveiled that microplastics in processed food pose a higher level of health risk in children rather than in adults. In addition, the estimated intake of microplastics has been lower than the dose used for toxicological research. Based on the findings it can be inferred that microplastics in processed food just carry a limited level of risk. The research quality has been high for unveiling that the exposure dose used in terms of toxicological research has been around 10 times greater than the microplastic intake through processed foods.
7 Urli S, Corte Pause F, Crociati M, Baufeld A, Monaci M, Stradaioli G. Impact of Microplastics and Nanoplastics on Livestock Health: An Emerging Risk for Reproductive Efficiency. Animals (Basel). 2023 Mar 23;13(7):1132. doi: 10.3390/ani13071132. PMID: 37048387; PMCID: PMC10093235. In this research study, the authors are found to apply a secondary research strategy with consideration of secondary data collection. The authors discussed that microplastics affect the evolution of microbial communities and raise gene exchanges inclusive of antibiotic resistance genes. This research work received no such external funding from anywhere. As the authors focused on the secondary data collection method; hence, no sample was selected. From this research, the authors inferred that the farm animals ingest plastics in various quantities based on environmental contamination which in turn causes harm to cellular systems and tissues because of various cascades of the tissue functions hence leading to genotoxicity, immune toxicity, cytotoxicity and inflammation in tissues and cells. It can be concluded that there are negative effects of plastic pollution on the reproductive efficiency of the animals and the health status of food-producing animals is not easy to ascertain due to various confounding effects. The research has been of top quality for investigating the research aim with high precision.
8 Caba-Flores MD, Martnez-Valenzuela C, Crdenas-Tueme M, Camacho-Morales A. Micro problems with macro consequences: accumulation of persistent organic pollutants and microplastics in human breast milk and in human milk substitutes. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Sep;30(42):95139-95154. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-29182-5. Epub 2023 Aug 19. PMID: 37597149. The authors have reviewed various literature sources and enforced a secondary research strategy with precision. As opined by Caba-Flores et al. (2023), persistent organic pollutants and rising plastic usage together with degrading byproducts like microplastics are present environmental issues found in all ecosystems. This is significantly disturbing various forms of life. Certainly, microplastics and persistent organic products are found in human-consuming products including vegetable and animal derivatives, human breast milk and human milk substitutes. This research has been funded by CONACYT Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Samples are collected in terms of atmosphere, water and soil. The results indicate that microplastics are present in both human milk and its substitutes. In addition, POPs are crucial and abundant in human milk rather than in human milk substitutes. Moreover, infants that feed on plastic bottles are exposed to extra microplastics and microplastics affecting health remain to be elucidated. It can be concluded that the attributed risks of microplastic and POP presence in human milk are extremely overweight and hence human milk must be preferred over other feeding choices. The quality of the research is enriched for investigating the effects of both microplastics and POP on the health of infants.
9 Kaseke T, Lujic T, Cirkovic Velickovic T. Nano- and Microplastics Migration from Plastic Food Packaging into Dairy Products: Impact on Nutrient Digestion, Absorption, and Metabolism. Foods. 2023 Aug 14;12(16):3043. doi: 10.3390/foods12163043. PMID: 37628042; PMCID: PMC10453031. A secondary research strategy has been applied in this research. Nano and microplastics interact with carbohydrates, fats and proteins to bring a detrimental effect on the way nutrients are being absorbed and digested by humans. The Microprot European Union's Horizon Europe programme funded the project. The samples of milk and related products are indicated based on various other secondary sources of information in this research. The existence of nano and microplastics in the gastrointestinal tract might impact the way iron, glucose, lipids, proteins and energy are metabolised which in turn upsurges the risk of developing health status like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, certain cancers, etc. Besides nano and microplastics, plastic oligomers released from food packaging material are found to mitigate various food simulants and milk through their effect on human health. The research has been done of top quality with precision.
10 Yuan Z, Nag R, Cummins E. Human health concerns regarding microplastics in the aquatic environment - From marine to food systems. Sci Total Environ. 2022 Jun 1;823:153730. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153730. Epub 2022 Feb 7. PMID: 35143789. In this research, Yuan et al. (2022), have focused on the application of a secondary research strategy with collecting qualitative data from various secondary sources. In the literature review, the authors have found various properties of microplastic polymers based on chemical structure, monomer, characteristics, etc. This research has been well funded by University College Dublin and the China Scholarship Council. In this research, the author has focused on collecting secondary sources of information and no specific sample size is considered. The review unveiled that plastic waste is never biodegraded and can just be broken down by being dominated by physical processes in small particles of micron to nanometre size with precision. The research study has laid the foundation for evaluating microplastic-related risk assessment in the marine ecosystem as well as its potential implications for human health. The quality of this research has been maintained appreciably high.
11 Pironti C, Ricciardi M, Motta O, Miele Y, Proto A, Montano L. Microplastics in the Environment: Intake through the Food Web, Human Exposure and Toxicological Effects. Toxics. 2021 Sep 16;9(9):224. doi: 10.3390/toxics9090224. PMID: 34564375; PMCID: PMC8473407.C, Ricciardi M, Motta O, Miele Y, Proto A, Montano L. Microplastics in the Environment: Intake through the Food Web, Human Exposure and Toxicological Effects. Toxics. 2021 Sep 16;9(9):224. doi: 10.3390/toxics9090224. PMID: 34564375; PMCID: PMC8473407. Pironti et al. (2021), favoured using a primary research strategy. The researchers have extensively focused on reviewing various literature related to microplastic occurrence, quantification and distribution. Fondi di Ateneo per la Ricerca di Base funded the research. The authors have applied a passive sampling technique in this research. Toxicological effects are found at high levels of microplastics for a short duration with precision. This can be concluded that the presence of microplastics has been toxic to human health. The authors have prioritised maintaining high quality with perfection.
12 Da Costa Filho PA, Andrey D, Eriksen B, Peixoto RP, Carreres BM, Ambhl ME, Descarrega JB, Dubascoux S, Zbinden P, Panchaud A, Poitevin E. Detection and characterization of small-sized microplastics (5 m) in milk products. Sci Rep. 2021 Dec 15;11(1):24046. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-03458-7. PMID: 34911996; PMCID: PMC8674347.In this research, through consideration of quantitative data, a primary research strategy has been applied. Microplastics are found to gain a high level of public interest as they are linked with the global release of plastics in the local environment. This research is not funded. The researcher has collected various milk samples to detect as well as identify micro-sized microplastics. The authors unveiled the occurrence of comparatively low amounts of small-sized microplastics in small sizes being reported in raw milk as collected at the farm just following the milking machine and in certain processes commercial powdered and liquid milk products. The authors concluded the presence of microplastics in the food chain. The quality has been top-class.
13 Thompson, R.C., Moore, C.J., Vom Saal, F.S. and Swan, S.H., 2009. Plastics, the environment and human health: current consensus and future trends. Philosophical transactions of the royal society B: biological sciences, 364(1526), pp.2153-2166. In this research, qualitative research strategy is applied to investigate plastics and its effect on human health and the environment. One of the specific concerns has been the abundance of small plastic particles or microplastic. particles as tiny as 1.6 m are identified in small habitats and it is likely there are smaller pieces below present levels of detection. There has been no fund allocated for this research study. As the researchers have applied secondary research strategy; hence, no such sample has been collected. The authors identified solutions like design for end-of-life recyclability, material reduction, revised risk assessment strategies, strategies for lowering littering and application of green life-cycle analyses. In this research, the authors inferred that there has been urgency as the quantity of plastics generated during the first 10 years of the present century is most likely to approach the quantity generated in the full century that preceded. The overall quality of this research study has been excellent.
14 Talsness, C.E., Andrade, A.J., Kuriyama, S.N., Taylor, J.A. and Vom Saal, F.S., 2009. Components of plastic: experimental studies in animals and relevance for human health. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1526), pp.2079-2096. In this research study, experimental investigations indicated an extensive variety of effects involved in exposure to microplastics causing concerns about potential risk in human health. Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) has been found in human and cow milk human adipose tissue, human serum and umbilical cord serum.
This research is not funded. The spiked samples in glass containers provided over 95% recovery and significant leaching occurred from every form of product tested. The authors revealed that there has been no such significant difference in the placental levels, the sum of PBDEs in breast milk has been higher in cryptorchid boys than in controls and has been positively correlated with the infant serum. The authors inferred that the deficit of correlation between Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) levels in breast and placental milk samples might be that the placenta indicates the situation at delivery as one would find in a single blood sample and not the exposure over long-term. In this research work, the analytical quality has been outstanding.
15 Pathak, A., 2014. Adverse health effects of plastics. In this paper, a secondary research strategy is applied to investigate health impacts of plastics. People are mostly likely to consume negligible amounts of microplastics; however, the health impacts of such intake are very concerning. No such funding has been done to this research study. No sample has been collected. Toxicity of plastic has been a critical issue on the universal scale ranging from the individual level to the level of populations. This research unveiled that the negative consequences of microplastic on human health as well as environment as an upshot of exposure to toxic chemicals used in plastic production. The toxic effect of microplastics on human health has been very evident in most of the reviews. The authors inferred that sustainable use, disposal and production of plastics are inevitable. This research delivers good quality.
16 Van Cauwenberghe, L. and Janssen, C.R., 2014. Microplastics in bivalves cultured for human consumption. Environmental pollution, 193, pp.65-70. In this research, a primary data analysis technique is chosen. Microplastic ingestion not only paves the way for physical harm in humans; however, it can act as vectors of additives infused during organic pollutants that are sorbed from surrounding seawater. There is no fund acquired while doing this entire research. Samples has been collected from soft tissues of Mytilus edulis as well as Crassostrea gigas.
The results indicated that the presence of microplastics in the marine seafood may pose a critical threat to food safety. It is inferred that because of complexities of calculating microplastic toxicity, estimation of the potential risks for human health posed by microplastics in food stuffs has not yet been possible. The research has been of top quality considering the effects of microplastics for seafood consumption.
17 Fngstrm, B., Strid, A., Grandjean, P., Weihe, P. and Bergman, ., 2005. A retrospective study of PBDEs and PCBs in human milk from the Faroe Islands. Environmental health, 4, pp.1-9. In this project, an empirical research study has been performed. Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in humans remained a crucial cause of worldwide concern, which is found both in regards to conventional POPs such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and emergency POPs including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). This research is not funded. For sampling, milk is obtained from the Faroe islands where the people are highly exposed to POPs. In addition, 9 individual samples has been collected. In comparison to other European populations, it is found that human milk has a high concentration of PCB with a pool concentration of 2300 ng/g in 1987, 1600 ng/g in 1994 and 1800 ng/g in 1999. Further, the nine discrete samples shown great variation in PCB concentrations. In this research, the authors inferred that even though remote from pollution sources, the Faroe islands indicate high concentration of POPs in human milk, specifically PCBs and also PBDEs. PBDEs indicate rising concentration with the flow of time. The OH-PCB metabolites seem poorly transferred to human milk which is likely relatable to their acidic characters. The research findings are significant.
18 Yang, C.Z., Yaniger, S.I., Jordan, V.C., Klein, D.J. and Bittner, G.D., 2011. Most plastic products release estrogenic chemicals: a potential health problem that can be solved. Environmental health perspectives, 119(7), pp.989-996. In this research an empirical research strategy has been followed. Chemicals that are having estrogenic activity cause numerous adverse health risks particularly at low doses in juvenile and foetal mammals. This research has not received any form of funding sources. The authors used a roboticized MCF-7 cell proliferation asset that is highly accurate, sensitive and repeatable for quantifying the estrogenic activity (EA) of chemicals that is leached into ethanol and saline extracts of numerous forms of commercially available plastics materials. The authors clearly revealed that almost all commercially available plastics are found to leach chemicals that have detectable and reliable EA inclusive of those advertised as BPS free, which causes significant health risks in humans. The EA free plastic products that are exposed to common-use stresses as well as extracted by ethanol and saline solvents can be cost-effectively made on the commercial scale and in turn eliminate significant health risk. The research indicates top quality.
Table 2: Systematic Literature Review
(Source: Self-developed)
References
Basaran B, zifi Z, Akcay HT, Aytan . Microplastics in branded milk: Dietary exposure and risk assessment. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 2023 Oct 1;123:105611. doi: 10.1016/j.jfca.2023.105611
Caba-Flores MD, Martnez-Valenzuela C, Crdenas-Tueme M, Camacho-Morales A. Micro problems with macro consequences: accumulation of persistent organic pollutants and microplastics in human breast milk and in human milk substitutes. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Sep;30(42):95139-95154. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-29182-5. Epub 2023 Aug 19. PMID: 37597149.
Covello C, Di Vincenzo F, Cammarota G, Pizzoferrato M. Micro (nano) plastics and their potential impact on human gut health: a narrative review. Current Issues in Molecular Biology. 2024 Mar 21;46(3):2658-77. doi: 10.3390/cimb46030168
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