Sub-acute polyethylene microplastic inhalation exposure induced pulmonary toxicity in wistar rats through inflammation and oxidative stress

Plastic waste, particularly polyethylene (PE) plastic bags and bottles, poses a significant environmental problem and health risk when degraded into microplastics. Recent atmospheric microplastic pollution increases inhalation exposure, necessitating a study on toxicity in the lungs. However, the inhalation toxicology of PE microplastics is poorly understood. This study used Wistar rats that are divided into control and PE group. The PE groups were exposed to PE microplastic through inhalation for 28 days with the daily dose of 15 mg/m³. Inflammatory marker such as Inflammatory exudate, Alveolar thickening, and NF-κB were in PE group increased significantly compared to control group. the increment of MDA and decrement of SOD in PE group revealed the oxidative stress occurred. These results suggest that sub-acute PE microplastic inhalation may contribute to inflammation pathogenesis via the NF-κB pathway as a result of oxidative stress.