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Steam disinfection releases micro(nano)plastics from silicone-rubber baby teats as examined by optical photothermal infrared microspectroscopy

Nature Nanotechnology volume 17, pages 76–85 (2022)Cite this article

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An Author Correction to this article was published on 31 May 2022

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Abstract

Silicone-rubber baby teats used to bottle-feed infants are frequently disinfected by moist heating. However, infant exposure to small microplastics (<10 μm) potentially released from the heated teats by hydrothermal decomposition has not been studied, owing to the limitations of conventional spectroscopy in visualizing microplastic formation and in characterizing the particles at the submicrometre scale. Here both the surfaces of silicone teats subjected to steam disinfection and the wash waters of the steamed teats were analysed using optical-photothermal infrared microspectroscopy. This new technique revealed submicrometre-resolved steam etching on and chemical modification of the teat surface. Numerous flake- or oil-film-shaped micro(nano)plastics (MNPs) (in the size range of 0.6–332 μm) presented in the wash waters, including cyclic and branched polysiloxanes or imides, which were generated by the steam-induced degradation of the base polydimethylsiloxane elastomer and the polyamide resin additive. The results indicated that by the age of one year, a baby could ingest >0.66 million elastomer-derived micro-sized plastics (MPs) (roughly 81% in 1.5–10 μm). Global MP emission from teat disinfection may be as high as 5.2 × 1013 particles per year. Our findings highlight an entry route for surface-active silicone-rubber-derived MNPs into both the human body and the environment. The health and environmental risks of the particles are as yet unknown.

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Fig. 1: Steam etching of silicone-rubber teat surface by hydrothermal decomposition.
Fig. 2: Visualization of the evolution of etching on teat surface.
Fig. 3: Characterization of the molecular structure, number and size distribution of the large PDMS elastomer-derived (type I) MPs.
Fig. 4: Release of small type I MNPs (<1.5 μm) and hydrothermal stability of a larger MP during steaming.
Fig. 5: Characterization of the morphology and molecular structures of PA-additive-derived (type II) MNPs.

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All data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and the Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (grant no. 2020B1111380003 to R.J.) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 31861133003 to R.J. and 21607072 to Y.S.). We thank C. Wang (Nanjing University) for his assistance with the IR spectra analysis and M. K. F. Lo (Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp.) for technical support. B.X. acknowledges the UMass Amherst Conti Faculty Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Yu Su, Kun Lu, Huimin Li & Rong Ji

  2. Quantum Design (Beijing) Co., Ltd, Beijing, China

    Xi Hu & Hongjie Tang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Sijin Liu

  4. Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA

    Baoshan Xing

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Contributions

Y.S. carried out the experiments and wrote the original manuscript. X.H. and H.T. supported the O-PTIR and low-voltage SEM analyses. K.L. supported ESEM/EDS collection and XPS spectra analysis. H.L. supported MP counting. S.L. contributed to experimental planning and data interpretation. Y.S., B.X. and R.J. contributed to experimental planning, data analysis and interpretation, and manuscript revision. All authors reviewed and approved the paper.

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Correspondence to Baoshan Xing or Rong Ji.

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Peer review information Nature Nanotechnology thanks Ji-Xin Cheng, Oxana Klementieva and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Su, Y., Hu, X., Tang, H. et al. Steam disinfection releases micro(nano)plastics from silicone-rubber baby teats as examined by optical photothermal infrared microspectroscopy. Nat. Nanotechnol. 17, 76–85 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-021-00998-x

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