ZonMW breakthrough projects

Follow-up research into health risks of microplastics needed

In 2019, ZonMW started with 15 breakthrough projects about the health effects of micro- and nanoplastics. Now the first results are out. Experimental human material or laboratory animals have been exposed to micro- and nanoplastics. This shows that small plastic particles can cross the intestinal wall, the lungs, the placenta and even the blood-brain barrier. They also appear to disrupt the functioning of these different body cells. Sometimes inflammatory reactions also occur.

Other publications

• A monitoring and data analysis method for microplastics in marine sediments
  P.S. Bäuerlein, M.W. Erich, W.M.G.M. van Loon, S.M. Mintenig, A.A. Koelmans
  Marine Environmental Research (vol. 183, January 2023)

• Quantum cascade laser imaging (LDIR) and machine learning for the identification of environmentally exposed microplastics and polymers
  X. Tian, F. Beén, P.S. Bäuerlein
  Environmental Research (vol. 212, part D, September 2022)

• Fate of microplastics in the drinking water production
  P.S. Bäuerlein, R.C.H.M. Hofman-Caris, E.N. Pieke, T.L. ter Laak
  Water Research (vol. 221, August 2022)

• Removal of nanoparticles (both inorganic nanoparticles and nanoplastics) in drinking water treatment – coagulation/flocculation/sedimentation, and sand/granular activated carbon filtration
  C. H. M. Hofman-Caris, P. S. Bäuerlein, W. G. Siegers, S. M. Mintenig, R. Messina, S. C. Dekker, Ch. Bertelkamp, E. R. Cornelissen, A. P. van Wezel
  Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology (iss. 8, June 2022)

• Research recommendations to better understand the potential health impacts of microplastics to humans and aquatic ecosystems
  L.M. Thornton Hampton, H. Bouwmeester, S.M. Brander, S. Coffin, M. Cole, L. Hermabessiere, A.C. Mehinto, E. Miller, C.M. Rochman, S.B. Weisberg
  Microplastics and Nanoplastics (vol. 2, July 2022)

• Development and application of a health-based framework for informing regulatory action in relation to exposure of microplastic particles in California drinking water
  S.Coffin, H. Bouwmeester, S. Brander, P. Damdimopoulou, T. Gouin, L. Hermabessiere, E. Khan, A.A. Koelmans, C.L. Lemieux, K. Teerds, M. Wagner, S.B. Weisberg, S. Wright
  Microplastics and Nanoplastics (vol. 2, May 2022)

• Study on discharge of microplastics via a wastewater plant and potential abatement by using a water bubble curtain
  S.A.E. Kools, P.S. Bäuerlein, E. Pieke, F.I.H.M. Oesterholt
  KWR Water Research Institute (March 2021)

• A systems approach to understand microplastic occurrence and variability in Dutch riverine surface waters
  S.M. Mintenig, M. Kooi, M.W. Erich, S. Primpke, P.E. Redondo- Hasselerharm, S.C. Dekker, A.A. Koelmans, A.P. van Wezel
  Water Research (vol. 176, June 2020)

• Microplastics in Freshwaters and Drinking Water: Critical Review and Assessment of Data Quality
  A.A. Koelmans, N.H. Mohamed Nor, E. Hermsen, M. Kooi, S.M. Mintenig, J. De France
  Water Research (vol. 155, May 2019)

• Closing the gap between small and smaller: towards a framework to analyse nano- and microplastics in aqueous environmental samples
  S.M. Mintenig, P.S. Bäuerlein, A.A. Koelmans, S.C. Dekker, A.P. van Wezel
  Environmental Science: Nano (vol. 5, iss. 7, May 2018)

• Release of primary microplastics from consumer products to wastewater in the Netherlands
  A. van Wezel, I. Caris, S.A.E. Kools
  Environmental toxicology and chemistry (vol. 35, iss. 7, July 2016)

• Microplastics in fresh water resources
  F.R. Storck, S.A.E. Kools, S. Rinck-Pfeieffer
  GWRC Science Brief (2015)