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2025 (English)In: Environmental Research, ISSN 0013-9351, E-ISSN 1096-0953, Vol. 269, article id 120929Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
As the volume of plastic waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) continues to rise, a significant portion is disposed of in the environment, with only a small fraction being recycled. Both disposal and recycling pose unknown health risks that require immediate attention. Existing knowledge of WEEE plastic toxicity is limited and mostly relies on epidemiological data and association studies, with few insights into the underlying toxicity mechanisms. Therefore, this study aimed to perform comprehensive chemical screening and mechanistic toxicological assessment of WEEE plastic-associated chemicals. Chemical analysis, utilizing suspect screening based on high-resolution mass spectrometry, along with quantitative target chemical analysis, unveiled numerous hazardous compounds including polyaromatic compounds, organophosphate flame retardants, phthalates, benzotriazoles, etc. Toxicity endpoints included perturbation of morphological phenotypes using the Cell Painting approach, inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and endocrine disruption. Results demonstrated that WEEE plastic chemicals altered the phenotypes of the cytoskeleton, endoplasmic reticulum, and mitochondria in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, WEEE chemicals induced inflammatory responses in resting macrophages and altered inflammatory responses in lipopolysaccharide-primed macrophages. Furthermore, WEEE chemicals activated the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway, indicating oxidative stress, and the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). Endocrine disruption was also observed through the activation of estrogenic receptor-α (ER-α) and the induction of anti-androgenic activity. The findings show that WEEE plastic-associated chemicals exert effects in multiple subcellular sites, via different receptors and mechanisms. Thus, an integrated approach employing both chemical and toxicological methods is essential for comprehensive assessment of the toxicity mechanisms and cumulative chemical burden of WEEE plastic-associated chemicals.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2025
Keywords
Waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), Plastic additives, Persistent organic pollutants, Suspect chemical screening, Cell Painting, Oxidative stress
National Category
Environmental Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-118822 (URN)10.1016/j.envres.2025.120929 (DOI)001413779000001 ()39862959 (PubMedID)2-s2.0-85215971826 (Scopus ID)
Funder
Knowledge Foundation, 20160019; 20220122; 20230020; 20200017Vinnova, 2021-03968Afa Trygghetsförsäkringsaktiebolag, 230039Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC), 2022/5-535; 2022/6-306Swedish Research Council, 2022-06725; 2018-05973
Note
This work was supported by the Swedish Knowledge Foundation [Grants No. 20160019; 20220122; 20230020], Vinnova, the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems, [Grant No. 2021-03968], and AFA Forsakring [Grant No. 230039]. We acknowledge scientific support from the Exploring Inflammation in Health and Disease (X-HiDE) Consortium, which is a strategic research profile at Örebro University funded by the Knowledge Foundation [Grant No. 20200017]. The data handling was partially enabled by resources provided by the National Academic Infrastructure for Supercomputing in Sweden (NAISS) and the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC) partially funded by the Swedish Research Council [Grant No. 2022-06725 and 2018-05973], projects SNIC 2022/5-535 and SNIC 2022/6-306.
2025-01-242025-01-242025-02-19Bibliographically approved