Plastic nanoparticles threaten antibiotic efficacy, say researchers
An international team of researchers has discovered that plastic nanoparticles, increasingly present in the environment and human bodies, can bind to antibiotics such as tetracycline. This phenomenon may reduce the effectiveness of these drugs and pose a new challenge for medicine.
Using advanced computer models, scientists examined the interactions between tetracycline—a commonly used antibiotic for treating respiratory, skin, and intestinal infections—and nanoparticles of popular plastics: polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and nylon 6,6 (N66). It was found that nanoplastics can bind the antibiotic, reducing its biological activity.
This binding was particularly strong in the case of nylon, emphasizes Lukas Kenner from the Medical University of Vienna, quoted by the Polish Press Agency.
The expert highlights an underestimated hazard present indoors, where the micro- and nanoplastic load is about five times higher than outdoors, as it is released from textiles and enters the body, for instance, through breathing.
Plastic nanoparticles like PE, PP, and PS are widely used in packaging production, while N66 is used in clothing materials and furniture upholstery. Their presence in the environment is continuously increasing, which can negatively impact the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy.
Researchers warn that, in addition to reducing the effectiveness of antibiotics, the binding of these drugs with nanoplastics can lead to their transport to undesirable places in the body, causing adverse effects. Furthermore, the increased concentration of antibiotics on nanoplastic particles may promote the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.
"Our finding that the local concentration of antibiotics on the surface of the nanoplastic particles can increase is particularly worrying," the scientists note.
