Polytetrafluoroethylene microplastic properties, pollution, toxicity and analysis : a review
Alaraby, Mohamed (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia)
Abass, Doaa (Sohag University. Zoology Department)
Velázquez Henar, Antonia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia)
Hernández Bonilla, Alba (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia)
Marcos Dauder, Ricardo (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia)

Date:	2025
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.
Grants:	Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2022/BP-00026 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-00731 European Commission 965196 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-116789RB-C43
Note:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article de revisió ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Polytetrafluoroethylene ; Microplastics ; Nanoplastics ; Synthesis ; Production ; Applications ; Detection methods ; Environmental occurrence ; Persistence ; Release conditions ; Toxicological profile ; Exposure routes ; Human ; Exposure ; Risk assessment
Published in:	Environmental Chemistry Letters, (October 2025) , ISSN 1610-3661

DOI: 10.1007/s10311-025-01885-w

33 p, 2.6 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles