Polytetrafluoroethylene microplastic properties, pollution, toxicity and analysis: a review

Abstract

Cooking with polytetrafluoroethylene-coated pans releases thousands to millions of microplastic and nanoplastic particles per use, directly contaminating food and the environment. Here we review polytetrafluoroethylene microplastics with emphasis on polytetrafluoroethylene characteristics, environmental occurrence, and detection methods. Polytetrafluoroethylene has high chemical stability and is used in medical devices, clothes and protective suits, aerospace, non-sticking pans, cables and insulation, filtration, irrigation and electronics. We discuss plastic utensils as microplastic sources, and the influence of temperature and aging on microplastic release. The presence of microplastics in humans, wild animals, sediments, water and the atmosphere is described. Limitations of actual analytical methods such as density separation are detailed. Polytetrafluoroethylene accounts for about 60% of the global fluoropolymer market, and is a major contributor to microplastic pollution, accounting for up to 44% of microplastics in sediments, 74% in benthic fish, and 60% in human organs. Our meta-analysis shows that polytetrafluoroethylene microplastic concentrations average 7.3 ± 13.3 particles per L in water, 3,685.7 ± 4,832.0 particles per kg in sediment, 24.9 ± 37.1 particles per individual in fish, and 482.5 ± 554.1 particles per kg in human tissues. Polytetrafluoroethylene microplastics may impair physiological homeostasis by inducing oxidative stress, inflammation, necrosis, and disruption of key cellular signaling pathways.