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Communicating Confidence in the Reliability of Micro- and Nanoplastic Identification in Human Health Studies

Kevin V. Thomas Orcid Logo, Susanne Belz, Andy M. Booth Orcid Logo, Martin Clift Orcid Logo, Richard K. Cross Orcid Logo, Grace Davies Orcid Logo, Hubert Dirven, Sarah Dunlop Orcid Logo, Alessio Gomiero Orcid Logo, Shaowei Guo Orcid Logo, Dorte Herzke, Albert A. Koelmans Orcid Logo, Ian S. Mudway, Elvis D. Okoffo Orcid Logo, Cassandra Rauert Orcid Logo, Saer Samanipour Orcid Logo, Christos Symeonides, Douglas I. Walker, Tingting Wang, Stephanie L. Wright Orcid Logo, Jun-Li Xu Orcid Logo, Leon P. Barron Orcid Logo

Environment & Health

Swansea University Author: Martin Clift Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1021/envhealth.5c00671

Abstract

Accurately quantifying and characterizing human internal exposure to micro- and nanoplastics are critical for assessing potential health risks. However, the detection of these particles in human tissues, fluids, cell systems, and relevant models remains a major analytical challenge. There is an urge...

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Published in: Environment & Health
ISSN: 2833-8278 2833-8278
Published: American Chemical Society (ACS) 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71348
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There is an urgent need for robust, selective, sensitive, and high-throughput methods capable of generating reliable quantitative data. Equally essential is the transparent reporting of methodological limitations and uncertainties, supported by rigorous data collection and standardized practices. These challenges are compounded by the ubiquity of plastic particles, and therefore the risk of sample contamination and their diverse properties (e.g., size, shape, composition), all adding to the complexity of identifying and quantifying them in biological matrices. To address these issues, we propose a framework that integrates orthogonal analytical techniques to enhance the data reliability. Commonly used analytical techniques for the analysis of micro- and nanoplastics are assigned a category based on their specificity when identifying plastic particles. 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spelling 2026-02-05T11:18:08.6936454 v2 71348 2026-01-29 Communicating Confidence in the Reliability of Micro- and Nanoplastic Identification in Human Health Studies 71bf49b157691e541950f5c3f49c9169 0000-0001-6133-3368 Martin Clift Martin Clift true false 2026-01-29 MEDS Accurately quantifying and characterizing human internal exposure to micro- and nanoplastics are critical for assessing potential health risks. However, the detection of these particles in human tissues, fluids, cell systems, and relevant models remains a major analytical challenge. There is an urgent need for robust, selective, sensitive, and high-throughput methods capable of generating reliable quantitative data. Equally essential is the transparent reporting of methodological limitations and uncertainties, supported by rigorous data collection and standardized practices. These challenges are compounded by the ubiquity of plastic particles, and therefore the risk of sample contamination and their diverse properties (e.g., size, shape, composition), all adding to the complexity of identifying and quantifying them in biological matrices. To address these issues, we propose a framework that integrates orthogonal analytical techniques to enhance the data reliability. Commonly used analytical techniques for the analysis of micro- and nanoplastics are assigned a category based on their specificity when identifying plastic particles. The framework proposes minimum data requirements from orthogonal techniques for the identification of plastic particles at various confidence levels. Clear communication of analytical confidence is vital, and we present a structured approach to support this. We emphasize the importance of scientific integrity, rigorous study design, and transparent reporting in health research. Finally, we call for the universal adoption of harmonized confidence criteria for reporting the presence of plastics in humans, an essential step toward informed decision-making. Journal Article Environment &amp; Health 0 American Chemical Society (ACS) 2833-8278 2833-8278 microplastics, nanoplastics, human exposure, analytical methods, biological matrices, quantification, detection 26 1 2026 2026-01-26 10.1021/envhealth.5c00671 COLLEGE NANME Medical School COLLEGE CODE MEDS Swansea University External research funder(s) paid the OA fee (includes OA grants disbursed by the Library) This work was supported by Minderoo Foundation. A.M.B. was supported by the Plastic Trace project, funded by the European Partnership on Metrology, cofinanced by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme and by the Participating States (Grant Agreement No. 21GRD07). EO is supported by the Australian Research Council (IC220100035). H.D. received support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 964766 (POLYRISK). I.S.M. and S.W. received partial support through the MRC Centre for Environment and Health (MR/S019669/1), and the NIHR Health Protection Research Units in Environmental Exposures and Health, and Chemical and Radiation Threats and Hazards, a partnership between the U.K. Health Security Agency and Imperial College London (https://eeh.hpru.nihr.ac.uk/). Support was also provided by the Norwegian Research Council project PlastPoll21. 2026-02-05T11:18:08.6936454 2026-01-29T16:29:41.8317851 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Swansea University Medical School - Biomedical Science Kevin V. Thomas 0000-0002-2155-100x 1 Susanne Belz 2 Andy M. Booth 0000-0002-4702-2210 3 Martin Clift 0000-0001-6133-3368 4 Richard K. Cross 0000-0001-5409-6552 5 Grace Davies 0000-0002-5142-6779 6 Hubert Dirven 7 Sarah Dunlop 0000-0002-1306-3962 8 Alessio Gomiero 0000-0001-6496-6857 9 Shaowei Guo 0000-0002-3662-0290 10 Dorte Herzke 11 Albert A. Koelmans 0000-0001-7176-4356 12 Ian S. Mudway 13 Elvis D. Okoffo 0000-0001-8773-9761 14 Cassandra Rauert 0000-0002-2543-9023 15 Saer Samanipour 0000-0001-8270-6979 16 Christos Symeonides 17 Douglas I. Walker 18 Tingting Wang 19 Stephanie L. Wright 0000-0003-1894-2365 20 Jun-Li Xu 0000-0002-4442-7538 21 Leon P. Barron 0000-0001-5986-3853 22 71348__36146__d97fa95ee6aa43d0bbd8caaa1e276b2e.pdf Thomas et al (2026).pdf 2026-01-29T16:49:57.1357047 Output 2292102 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2026 The Authors. This publication is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 . true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
title Communicating Confidence in the Reliability of Micro- and Nanoplastic Identification in Human Health Studies
spellingShingle Communicating Confidence in the Reliability of Micro- and Nanoplastic Identification in Human Health Studies
Martin Clift
title_short Communicating Confidence in the Reliability of Micro- and Nanoplastic Identification in Human Health Studies
title_full Communicating Confidence in the Reliability of Micro- and Nanoplastic Identification in Human Health Studies
title_fullStr Communicating Confidence in the Reliability of Micro- and Nanoplastic Identification in Human Health Studies
title_full_unstemmed Communicating Confidence in the Reliability of Micro- and Nanoplastic Identification in Human Health Studies
title_sort Communicating Confidence in the Reliability of Micro- and Nanoplastic Identification in Human Health Studies
author_id_str_mv 71bf49b157691e541950f5c3f49c9169
author_id_fullname_str_mv 71bf49b157691e541950f5c3f49c9169_***_Martin Clift
author Martin Clift
author2 Kevin V. Thomas
Susanne Belz
Andy M. Booth
Martin Clift
Richard K. Cross
Grace Davies
Hubert Dirven
Sarah Dunlop
Alessio Gomiero
Shaowei Guo
Dorte Herzke
Albert A. Koelmans
Ian S. Mudway
Elvis D. Okoffo
Cassandra Rauert
Saer Samanipour
Christos Symeonides
Douglas I. Walker
Tingting Wang
Stephanie L. Wright
Jun-Li Xu
Leon P. Barron
format Journal article
container_title Environment &amp; Health
container_volume 0
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 2833-8278
2833-8278
doi_str_mv 10.1021/envhealth.5c00671
publisher American Chemical Society (ACS)
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str Swansea University Medical School - Biomedical Science{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Swansea University Medical School - Biomedical Science
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Accurately quantifying and characterizing human internal exposure to micro- and nanoplastics are critical for assessing potential health risks. However, the detection of these particles in human tissues, fluids, cell systems, and relevant models remains a major analytical challenge. There is an urgent need for robust, selective, sensitive, and high-throughput methods capable of generating reliable quantitative data. Equally essential is the transparent reporting of methodological limitations and uncertainties, supported by rigorous data collection and standardized practices. These challenges are compounded by the ubiquity of plastic particles, and therefore the risk of sample contamination and their diverse properties (e.g., size, shape, composition), all adding to the complexity of identifying and quantifying them in biological matrices. To address these issues, we propose a framework that integrates orthogonal analytical techniques to enhance the data reliability. Commonly used analytical techniques for the analysis of micro- and nanoplastics are assigned a category based on their specificity when identifying plastic particles. The framework proposes minimum data requirements from orthogonal techniques for the identification of plastic particles at various confidence levels. Clear communication of analytical confidence is vital, and we present a structured approach to support this. We emphasize the importance of scientific integrity, rigorous study design, and transparent reporting in health research. Finally, we call for the universal adoption of harmonized confidence criteria for reporting the presence of plastics in humans, an essential step toward informed decision-making.
published_date 2026-01-26T05:35:06Z
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score 11.096068

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