Microplastic exposure in the lungs of young children and its associations with allergic rhinitis: A cross-sectional study in China

Huimin Li; Jingli Yang; Lili Zhong; Gary W K Wong; Han Huang; Yinze Xu; Wendi Ma; Xuelin Lv; Li Peng; Dan Liu; Niguang Xiao; Shuhui Yin; Qiong Wang; Xiuqin Feng; Aimin Yang; Jingjing Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100193

Microplastic exposure in the lungs of young children and its associations with allergic rhinitis: A cross-sectional study in China

Eco Environ Health. 2025 Oct 24;4(4):100193. doi: 10.1016/j.eehl.2025.100193. eCollection 2025 Dec.

Authors

Huimin Li¹, Jingli Yang², Lili Zhong³, Gary W K Wong⁴, Han Huang⁵, Yinze Xu¹, Wendi Ma¹, Xuelin Lv¹, Li Peng³, Dan Liu³, Niguang Xiao³, Shuhui Yin³, Qiong Wang⁶, Xiuqin Feng³, Aimin Yang^{7

8}, Jingjing Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, School of Public Health, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410013, China.
² West China Biomedical Big Data Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
³ Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Pediatric Respirology, Pediatric Medical Center, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital (the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University), Changsha 410005, China.
⁴ Department of Paediatrics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁵ Hunan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Changsha 410008, China.
⁶ China CDC Key Laboratory of Environment and Population Health, National Institute of Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Beijing 100021, China.
⁷ Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, China.
⁸ Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, China.

Abstract

Exposure to microplastics (MPs) has emerged as a potential threat to chronic respiratory health. However, the association between MPs exposure and allergic rhinitis (AR) in children remains unclear. We evaluated the association between MP exposure and the prevalence of AR in children. We measured 11 types of MPs in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) collected from 207 children aged 1-16 years using pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) in 2023. Logistic regression models were employed to evaluate the association between MP concentration and prevalence of AR. Polyamide 66 (PA66), polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polystyrene (PS) were the predominant types detected, with median concentrations of 2.33, 0.45, 0.38, and 0.08 μg/mL in BALF, respectively. Higher concentrations of PA66 were associated with an increased prevalence of AR in all children, with odds ratios (ORs) of 3.00 (95% CI: 1.23, 7.34) after adjusting for potential confounders, indicating a statistically significant association (α < 0.05). Higher concentrations of total MP exposure (P _overall = 0.012, P _nonlinear = 0.310) and PA66 exposure (P _overall = 0.012, P _nonlinear = 0.951) were significantly associated with the prevalence of AR in children aged ≤6 years but not in those aged >6 years. Our findings suggest that exposure to MPs, particularly PA66, may be associated with a higher risk of AR in younger children. Further large-scale, community-based pediatric cohort studies are needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

Keywords: Allergic rhinitis; Children; Microplastic; PA66; Pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.