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. 2024 May 14;24(1):106.
doi: 10.1186/s12894-024-01495-8.

The first reported values of microplastics in prostate

Erhan Demirelli  1 , Yalçın Tepe  2 , Ural Oğuz  3 , Handan Aydın  2 , Murat Kodat  2 , Doğan Sabri Tok  1 , Mehmet Giray Sönmez  4 , Ercan Öğreden  1
Affiliations

The first reported values of microplastics in prostate

Erhan Demirelli et al. BMC Urol. .

Abstract

Background: Microplastics are ubiquitous, widespread environmental pollutants with unavoidable human exposure. Herein, it was aimed to investigate the presence of microplastics in prostate tissue.

Methods: Prostate tissues from 12 patients who underwent Trans Urethral Resection of the Prostate (TUR-P) were analyzed to investigate the presence of microplastics. Initially, the prostate tissues were analyzed for microplastic particles using a light microscope after extraction. Subsequently, the chemical composition of the particles found in the prostate tissues was characterized using Attenuated Total Reflection-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectrophotometry.

Results: Microplastic particles of various types were detected in 6 out of 12 patients. All detected plastic particles in this study were microplastics, with sizes below 26 μm in size. These microplastics exhibited different shapes as pellets, spheres or fibers. Overall, among the 12 analyzed prostate tissue samples, four different types of plastic were identified in six samples. The most common type of microplastic detected was Polyamide (Nylon 6), found in samples from three patients. Other detected types, Polypropylene, Polyacrylic Acid and Poly (dimethylsiloxane) were each determined in samples from one patient.

Conclusions: This is the first study to demonstrate the presence of microplastics in prostate tissue, serving as an exploratory investigation, which can trigger further research to validate the results in a larger patient cohort.

Keywords: ATR-FTIR spectrophotometry; Microplastic; Polyamide; Prostate.

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Conflict of interest statement

There is no conflict of interest between the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Microplastics particles in prostate tissue samples
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
ATR-FTIR spectra showing relative frequency of microplastics, (Red: Reference spectrum, Green: Spectra from samples). (A). Polypropylene obtained from 10th patient. (B). Polyacrylic Acid obtained from 11th patient C. Polyamide (Nylon 6) obtained from 12th patient. (D). Poly(dimethylsiloxane) obtained from 6th patient. (E). Polyamide (Nylon 6) obtained from 4th patient. F. Polyamide (Nylon 6) obtained from 9th patient
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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