Something’s off.A laboratory study reportedly found highly reactive oxygen-containing molecules forming at plastic-particle surfaces in water. It is an unexpected result for a material commonly treated as chemically inert.
The researchers tested six plastics in water and reported radical production from each, with stronger signals from more water-repellent plastics. They also reported that the effect weakened when a surfactant altered the particles’ surface-water interface. Their proposed explanation is that water molecules next to water-repellent plastic are arranged differently and that the plastic surface’s electric charge helps make radical formation easier.
The team further reported protein clumping and damage to mouse red blood cells in experiments involving plastic particles, but said the implications for human exposure and disease remain unresolved. The particles were largely fresh laboratory powders, and the researchers said particle age, size, real-world exposure, and the size of any human effect still need study.
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