Quality evaluation and review of in vivo mammalian reproductive and developmental toxicity studies on micro- and nanoplastics

Description

Pollution from micro- and nanoplastics is a growing concern for scientists, regulatory and political bodies, and the general public. Despite extensive scientific efforts to identify potential health and environmental effects, assessing the overall health risk based on current research remains challenging. This difficulty comes from several factors, including technical challenges and a lack of harmonized definitions and methodological practices in micro- and nanoplastic research. Furthermore, limited transparency and inadequate reporting undermine the comparability of published study results.

Our work addresses these challenges by developing tools to systematically evaluate the reliability and relevance of (eco)toxicity studies on micro- and nanoplastic effects. We have reviewed and revised existing tools to match specific needs for micro- and nanoplastics research. More specifically, we have focused on two existing frameworks: Science in Risk Assessment and Policy (SciRAP) and Criteria for Evaluating and Reporting ecotoxicity Data (CRED). These include SciRAP for in vivo studies, SciRAPnano for in vitro studies, and nanoCRED for ecotoxicity studies.

This work is further based on a comprehensive literature review of physicochemical properties, and critical technical and methodological concerns for research on micro- and nanoplastics. Furthermore, we developed reporting checklists and guidance, outlining critical information and technical or methodological aspects that should be considered and reported specifically in micro- and nanoplastic studies.

The outcome of our work is three tools known as SciRAPplastic (in vivo and in vitro) and plasticCRED (ecotoxicity), tailored to evaluate the reliability and relevance of micro- and nanoplatic (eco)toxicity studies. These tools can be applied as part of a weight-of-evidence assessment to evaluate reliability and relevance of scientific studies for regulatory purpose. The reporting checklists and guidance aim to support researchers in reporting essential information to ensure their studies meet reliability and relevance standards in a regulatory context.

This work contributes to the identification of (eco)toxicity studies that assess environmental and health effects of micro- and nanoplastics, which provide data that are both reliable and relevant to serve as scientific evidence for legislation.

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Acknowledgement - The authors thank the EU Commission for funding this project that is part of Plasticheal.

Period	15 Sept 2025
Event title	59th Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology: Toxicology addresses Society’s real life risks for sustainable health and well being
Event type	Conference
Conference number	59
Location	Athens, GreeceShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International