Respiratory Exposure to Microplastics in Captive-Held Mammals: Validated Lung Tissue Method with Recovery Efficiency and Internal Burden Evaluation in Ungulates
- 1Experimental Station of Arid Zones, Spanish National Research Council (EEZA-CSIC), Road Sacramento s/n, La Cañada de San Urbano, 04120 Almería, Spain
- 2Associated Unit “Chemistry and Environment” of the University of Almería (UAL) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)—Experimental Station of Arid Zones (EEZA), E-04120 Almeria, Spain
- 3Department of Chemistry and Physics, Research Centre for Mediterranean Intensive Agrosystems and Agri-Food, Biotechnology (CIAIMBITAL), University of Almeria, Agrifood Campus of International, Excellence, ceiA3, E-04120 Almería, Spain
Abstract
Respiratory exposure to microplastics (MPs) remains poorly quantified because most tissue-based studies neither report extraction recovery efficiency nor assess whole-organ burden. Using lamb lungs as a model, we validated a method for determining MP burden in lung tissue by comparing three digestion oxidants and three sample masses against four spiked reference polymers:polypropylene(PP),polystyrene (PS),low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Sodium persulfate (Na2S2O8) digestion of 10 g freeze-dried tissue (~25% of the lamb lung) gave the best recovery (~70%) and was applied to lung tissue from captive-held Saharan ungulates (two adult gazelles, a pregnant gazelle with two fetuses, and a neonatal aoudad). Across the adult gazelles, fibres dominated the internal burden, with PP enriched among fragments and PET dominant among fibres, confirmed by micro-Fourier- transform infrared spectroscopy (µFTIR). Particles were overwhelmingly coarse (mostly 30 to ≥100 µm), with essentially none meeting respirable (<10 µm) or alveolar-like (<4 µm) size criteria, consistent with retention in conducting airways rather than alveolar deposition. No MPs were detected in either fetus or in the neonatal aoudad, suggesting postnatal rather than prenatal accumulation of pulmonary burden. This is, to our knowledge, the first recovery-characterized, whole-lung (one animal) and per-gram tissue-level (two animals) burdens in captive-held ungulates, providing a transferable framework for assessing respiratory MP exposure in captive-held life and livestock.
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BibTeX
@article{corrales2026respiratory,
title = {{Respiratory Exposure to Microplastics in Captive-Held Mammals: Validated Lung Tissue Method with Recovery Efficiency and Internal Burden Evaluation in Ungulates}},
author = {Laura Cortés Corrales and Sonia Domínguez Tejedor and Harshit Sahai and Mengyan Huang and María Jesús Martínez Bueno and María Dolores Hernando and Amadeo R. Fernández-Alba},
journal = {Polymers},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3390/polym18212786},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2786},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Respiratory Exposure to Microplastics in Captive-Held Mammals: Validated Lung Tissue Method with Recovery Efficiency and Internal Burden Evaluation in Ungulates
AU - Laura Cortés Corrales
AU - Sonia Domínguez Tejedor
AU - Harshit Sahai
AU - Mengyan Huang
AU - María Jesús Martínez Bueno
AU - María Dolores Hernando
AU - Amadeo R. Fernández-Alba
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/07
JO - Polymers
DO - 10.3390/polym18212786
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2786
AB - Respiratory exposure to microplastics (MPs) remains poorly quantified because most tissue-based studies neither report extraction recovery efficiency nor assess whole-organ burden. Using lamb lungs as a model, we validated a method for determining MP burden in lung tissue by comparing three digestion oxidants and three sample masses against four spiked reference polymers:polypropylene(PP),polystyrene (PS),low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Sodium persulfate (Na2S2O8) digestion of 10 g freeze-dried tissue (~25% of the lamb lung) gave the best recovery (~70%) and was applied to lung tissue from captive-held Saharan ungulates (two adult gazelles, a pregnant gazelle with two fetuses, and a neonatal aoudad). Across the adult gazelles, fibres dominated the internal burden, with PP enriched among fragments and PET dominant among fibres, confirmed by micro-Fourier- transform infrared spectroscopy (µFTIR). Particles were overwhelmingly coarse (mostly 30 to ≥100 µm), with essentially none meeting respirable (<10 µm) or alveolar-like (<4 µm) size criteria, consistent with retention in conducting airways rather than alveolar deposition. No MPs were detected in either fetus or in the neonatal aoudad, suggesting postnatal rather than prenatal accumulation of pulmonary burden. This is, to our knowledge, the first recovery-characterized, whole-lung (one animal) and per-gram tissue-level (two animals) burdens in captive-held ungulates, providing a transferable framework for assessing respiratory MP exposure in captive-held life and livestock.
SN - 2073-4360
ER -