Label-free nano- and microplastics detection in mammalian tissue by photothermal infrared spectroscopy
Nano- and microplastics (NMPs) are increasingly raising concerns about their potential health effects. Traditional methods for detection and characterization of NMPs in tissue require elaborate sample preparation, such as labelling or timeconsuming tissue digestion. In this contribution we report on the application of optical photothermal infrared spectroscopy (O-PTIR) for localization and identification of plastic particles smaller than 1 μm. We show that the method can be applied to routine clinical tissue samples, preserving tissue architecture while accurately locating NMPs. Since this technique is label-free, contactless and non-destructive it can be applied prior to routine histopathology. We present results on various types of clinical samples, among them 3D cell cultures, mouse kidney tissue and human colon tissue.
Authors
- Elisabeth S. Gruber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8646-1865)
- Vanessa Stadlbauer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5508-8271)
- Angela Horvath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7279-0628)
- Verena Kopatz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7512-1398)
- Markus Brandstetter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8679-8097)
- Christian Pacher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1206-5525)
- Tanja Limberger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1657-8670)
- Lukas Kenner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2184-1338)
- Kristina Duswald (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0445-6967)
- Verena Pichler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4544-2438)
- Verena Karl
Institutions
- Medical University of Graz (AT)
- Hochschule Campus Wien (AT)
- Center For Biomarker Research In Medicine (AT)
- Research Center for Non Destructive Testing (Austria) (AT)
- Umeå University (SE)
Publication Details
- Published
- 2025-03-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3049173
- Primary Topic
- Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00