Comparative Analysis of Microplastics Detected in Human Colorectal Cancer Tissues from Two Countries

Abstract

Microplastics are pervasive in the environment with potential health effects. Our study aimed to compare the physical and polymer characteristics of microplastics found in colorectal cancer samples from the United States and Malaysia. Microplastics were extracted from the tissues using chemical digestion of 10% potassium hydroxide and surface morphology was examined under a scanning electron microscope. Polymeric composition of microplastics incorporated micro-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in the analysis. Microplastics were detected in all samples, and the Malaysian samples exhibited a higher abundance (32.2 items/g) than the American samples (25.9 items/g). Similar shapes were observed in both groups with fibers being the most abundant. American samples have longer category size (Category II=501-1000 µm) than the Malaysian samples (Category I=<500 µm). Both groups exhibited surface roughness on their microplastics and similar polymer types including polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyamide (PA) and polycarbonate (PC). Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) was only found in the American samples. In conclusion, microplastics are ubiquitous in human tissue samples despite different population and different sampling time.