IN Brief:
- University of Derby researchers modelled long-term exposure to packaging microplastics.
- Laboratory-grown “mini human livers” showed inflammation, cell death, and functional disruption.
- The team has linked the findings to persistence and potential accumulation risks in the liver.
Researchers at the University of Derby have reported findings linking microplastics released from food packaging to damage in liver health markers, using laboratory-grown liver models designed to mimic human liver function.
Microplastics are defined in the work as plastic fragments smaller than 5 mm, and are described as widespread in the food and drink people consume. The University of Derby said it is estimated that most people ingest around 50,000 microplastic particles from food and drink each year, while long-term health impacts remain under investigation.
In the study, researchers used plastics commonly found in food packaging and exposed laboratory-grown “mini human livers” to low, repeated doses of microplastics over an extended period. The university reported that results showed widespread cell death, increased inflammation, and disruption to normal liver function.
“Research into microplastics is not new; environmental impacts have been investigated for more than 15 years,” said Dr Ali Kermanizadeh, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Biochemistry and Toxicology at the University of Derby, and the study’s lead researcher. “What remains far less clear, however, is their potential to harm human health.”
Kermanizadeh said the work focused on toxicity, rather than only detecting microplastics in organs, and linked the findings to interference in essential liver functions. The university’s report describes the liver as particularly vulnerable because of its role filtering substances entering the bloodstream, and because it sits at the centre of detoxification, metabolism, and energy storage.
“Microplastics do not easily break down. This means that once these particles reach the liver, they may remain there for a very long time,” Kermanizadeh said. “Although not all exposure necessarily leads to harm, there is still much we do not know.”
The university also reported Kermanizadeh’s view that reducing exposure at scale requires intervention beyond individual behaviour, citing measures including cutting unnecessary plastic production, improving recycling and waste management systems, and strengthening regulation of major microplastic sources, including textiles, tyres, and industrial emissions.
The Derby team said it is also studying how different types of plastics affect the body, alongside work to improve in-vitro modelling by linking gut and liver in one system to better reflect how exposures move through the body.
