{"id":24177,"date":"2025-10-14T09:21:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T14:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vetmed.tamu.edu\/news\/?p=24177"},"modified":"2025-10-14T09:21:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T14:21:02","slug":"chemicals-using-nanoplastics-to-enter-your-skin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vetmed.tamu.edu\/news\/press-releases\/chemicals-using-nanoplastics-to-enter-your-skin\/","title":{"rendered":"Chemicals Might Be Hitching A Ride On Nanoplastics To Enter Your Skin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"A
Dr. Wei Xu (left) and members of his lab; photos by Jason Nitsch \u201914, VMBS Marketing & Communications<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Plastic is ubiquitous in the modern world, and it\u2019s notorious for taking a long time to completely break down in the environment \u2014 if it ever does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even without breaking down completely, plastic can shed tiny particles \u2014 called nanoplastics because of their extremely small size \u2014 that scientists are just now starting to consider in long-term health studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of those scientists is Dr. Wei Xu<\/a>, an associate professor in the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences<\/a>\u2019 Department of Veterinary Physiology & Pharmacology<\/a>. Xu\u2019s current work is focused on what happens when nanoplastics interact with seawater, where they can pick up some curious hitchhikers in the form of chemicals and organic components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen particles are released into the environment, they can interact with a lot of different materials that modify their surfaces, possibly including proteins, chemicals, and toxins,\u201d Xu said. \u201cMost people are concerned with what happens when you accidentally ingest nanoplastics, but our work looks at how they might be getting into the body through the skin and what they might be bringing with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As they demonstrated in a recent publication<\/a>, Xu and his team have discovered that nanoplastics with environmental coatings can sneak past some of the skin\u2019s defenses at the microscopic level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe found that particles with the environmental coating accumulated in certain areas inside the cell and seemed successful at avoiding its \u2018garbage disposal\u2019 system, which might try to kill or expel them,\u201d Xu said. \u201cIt\u2019s like they\u2019re wearing camouflage that allows them to stay inside the cell longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the long-term health consequences of nanoplastics in the body are still being studied, Xu\u2019s research highlights the importance of the skin as a target for nanoplastics and the ability of the environment to alter particles before they\u2019re absorbed by the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile the nanoplastics themselves are a health concern, we also want to better understand these environmental coatings and what those may do once inside the body,\u201d Xu said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiny Beads, Big Discoveries<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

To understand how nanoplastics affected by the environment enter the skin, Xu and his team created their own nanoplastic beads augmented by ocean water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are vendors that produce nanoplastic particles for scientific research, but these particles have never been out in the environment,\u201d Xu said. \u201cSo, before we conducted the toxicity assessment, we used water collected from the ocean off the coast of Corpus Christi.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After letting the particles interact with the seawater for one to two weeks, Xu and his team were able to analyze the particles\u2019 environmental coatings to see what kind of changes occurred. Then, they tested how the particles make their way inside cultured skin cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had conducted previous research using plain nanoplastic beads that showed how they induce a reaction from skin cells,\u201d Xu said. \u201cIt was significant seeing how the beads with environmental coatings were better able to avoid the attack by the immune system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tackling A Complex Problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Xu\u2019s research on the skin and environmental effects of particles is helping scientists understand that some of the trickiest problems in toxicology are even more complex than they had previously realized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn our research, we had to focus on a specific type of environmental coating, so we looked at proteins,\u201d Xu said. \u201cBut what about those from algal blooms or other toxins? What happens when there are floods and water mixes with other contaminants? We haven\u2019t had the chance to explore how these things intersect yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if researchers do find solutions to preventing absorption of nanoplastics with certain kinds of environmental coatings, there\u2019s no guarantee that those will continue to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat if the environment is totally changed in 10 or 20 years and there are different coatings on the particles? We may have to keep coming up with new strategies to control them,\u201d Xu said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first step, according to Xu, is for there to be better standardization for research on nanoplastic particles, which he hopes his research will help drive forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had students look at publications on the same particle and find different results because other researchers aren\u2019t required to consider environmental coatings,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need better consistency for the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another step is to fully analyze all the coating types that Xu and his team found in their study of seawater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve already had people ask us about other types of coatings besides proteins,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will be a lot of work, but it\u2019s critical if we\u2019re to understand the full scope of the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

###<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at\u00a0<\/em>vetmed.tamu.edu<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or join us on\u00a0<\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a>, and\u00a0<\/em>X<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact Information:<\/em><\/strong> Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, <\/em>jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu,<\/em><\/a> 979-862-4216<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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