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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Food Animal Metabolism Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #419383
Research Project: Detection and Fate of Environmental Chemical and Biological Residues and their Impact on the Food Supply

Location: Food Animal Metabolism Research

Title: Synthesis of 14C-labeled polyethylene terephthalate and generation of 14C-nanoparticles for fate and disposition studies

Author
item Singh, Anuradha
item Shelver, Weilin
item Smith, David

Submitted to: Journal of Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/19/2025
Publication Date: 3/4/2025
Citation: Singh, A., Shelver, W.L., Smith, D.J. 2025. Synthesis of 14C-labeled polyethylene terephthalate and generation of 14C-nanoparticles for fate and disposition studies. Journal of Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals. https://doi.org/10.1002/jlcr.4137.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jlcr.4137

Interpretive Summary: Microplastics and nanoplastics (MP/NP) are emerging environmental contaminants that are globally detected in food and water consumed by humans. Contributions of MP/NP to humans from food animal sources are essentially unknown, and data describing the distribution and retention of MP/NP in food animals are lacking. The availability of a radiolabeled MP/NP would allow such studies to be conducted with relative ease. This work describes the synthesis of [14C]-polyethylene terephthalate (PET plastic) and the generation of PET nanoplastics from the labeled plastic. The resulting PET NP will be used to describe the fate and disposition of PET in milk, meat, and eggs collected from exposed animals.

Technical Abstract: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most extensively used plastics in daily life. Due to its prevalent use, it is ubiquitous in the environment and a significant contributor to plastic pollution. Continuous exposure to photochemical, thermal, biological, and mechanical processes makes PET susceptible to slow degradation and production of micro- and/or nanosized particles known as PET microplastic/nanoplastic (MP/NP). MP/NP are widely detected in the environment, including in drinking water and human food; consequently, knowledge gaps on the impacts of MP/NP in human food sources has gained global attention. A large knowledge gap is the bioaccumulation and fate of PET MP/NP in food animals. The application of carbon-14 labeled PET NP in food animals would provide a relatively straightforward approach to understanding the degree of PET absorption and its tissue distribution after absorption. Here, a simple, fast, and efficient synthetic method is described to produce [14C]-PET NP. The method comprises polycondensation of terephthaloyl chloride and readily accessible [14C]-ethylene glycol followed by nanoprecipitation. The synthesized [14C]-PET and [14C]-PET NP were characterized by nuclear magnetic spectroscopy (NMR) experiments, fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR NMR spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, thromogravimetric analysis (TGA), and UV-Vis spectroscopy.