Exploring the Potential and Challenges of Developing Physiologically-based Toxicokinetic Models to Support Human Health Risk Assessment of Microplastic and Nanoplastic Particles
Researched & written by: Chi-Yun Chen & Zhoumeng Lin
Summary – With the ever-growing threat of plastic pollution, Dr. Lin and his lab member Dr. Chi-Yun Chen have been researching microplastics and nanoplastics that are appearing in the body and the environment. Their research addresses the toxicokinetic behaviors, including absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) properties of microplastics and nanoplastics. As microplastics and nanoplastics are becoming rampant in our environment they sought to find out the potential impact on human health despite the intricacies of the research. Using a technique called physiologically based toxicokinetic (PBTK) modeling, they will be able to develop a tool to tackle the complexity of toxicokinetics of microplastics and nanoplastics in the body. They hope through their continued research that they may be able to add to our comprehension of how microplastics and nanoplastics affect human health.
