Breakdown Products From 'Eco-Friendly' Plastics Impede Fetal Development in Mice, Study Shows

Breakdown products from 'eco-friendly' plastics impede fetal development in mice, study shows

When the "eco-friendly" bioplastic, polylactic acid (PLA), biodegrades, the resulting nanoplastics can accumulate in the fetuses of pregnant mice and interfere with fetal growth. Yichao Huang and De-Xiang Xu of Anhui Medical University, China, and Mingliang Fang of Fudan University, China, report these findings in a study published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

Nanoplastics Released by 'Eco-Friendly' Bioplastics May Slow Fetal Development in Mice

The results of a study headed by teams at Anhui Medical University and Fudan University has found that when the “eco-friendly” bioplastic, polylactic acid (PLA), biodegrades, the resulting nanoplastics can accumulate in the fetuses of pregnant mice and interfere with fetal growth. The murine study discovered that exposure to environmentally relevant doses of oligomeric lactic acid (OLA) nanoplastics released by PLA damages placental vascular dev…

expert reaction to study looking at effects of gestational exposure to oligomeric lactic acid nanoplastics in mice

A study published in PLOS Biology looks at gestational exposure to microplastics in mice.    Dr. Ovokeroye Abafe, Assistant Professor in Environmental Sciences, Brunel University of London, said: “The dose of OLA given to the mice, which they stated as proportional to what a human typically consumes is an overestimation, as the weekly consumption of 0.1 – 5.0 g of PLA by human as reported in the manuscript, is a suggested weekly intake for all m…