Microplastics and nanoplastics in haemodialysis waters: emerging threats to be in our radar

Microplastics are present in the environment, in drinking water, in human blood and there is evidence of nanoplastics in tap water. The objective of this work was to analyze the possibility of hemodialysis patients being contaminated by micro and nanoplastics (MNPs) during dialysis treatments. The motivation for this investigation is the fact that hemodialysis patients use about 300-600 L of drinking water per week, which may be contaminated by MNPs. A literature review, a field investigation in a London hospital and an estimation of MNPs intake in patients were carried out. The results showed potential points of risk of contamination of patients by MNPs in hemodialysis. It was also estimated that for a filtration efficiency of 99% for MNPs, the amount of microplastics that can penetrate the kidneys of patients is 0.0021 to 3,768 particles/week. The assessment concludes that hemodialysis patients are at high risk of MNP contamination.