ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Interactions between oligomeric polymers and lung-sufactant liposome underpinning inhalation risks of airborne plastics

Abstract: Plastics are widespread in our daily life - from tea bags to coffee cups and water bottles ? with various types such as polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), as well as perfluorinated polymers (PFAs). The global annual production of plastic waste was 390.7 million metric tons in 2021, and the amount is projected to triple by 2060.2 Plastics may break down to smaller particles, and ultimately oligomeric polymers, via photo- or bio-degradation. These particles or oligomers ultimately accumulate in the ocean, soil, and atmosphere, posing potential risks to ecosystems and human health. Some of these would become airborne, and humans are particularly vulnerable to inhalation risks of airborne plastics; however, our understanding of how oligomeric polymers interact with the lung is very limited. Here, we propose to study interactions of oligomeric polystyrene and trifluroacetic acid (TFA), which represent the ultimate molecular form of degraded plastics, with liposomes comprising lung lipids/surfactants, using small angle neutron scattering (SANS), varying the oligomer concentraton, solution temperature and salt concentration. The results will add to our fundamental understanding of how oligomers from plastic degradation disrupt the lipid membrane.

Principal Investigator: Professor Wuge Briscoe
Experimenter: Mr Samuel Leon
Experimenter: Miss Chenlin Lu
Experimenter: Mr Tao Ma
Experimenter: Miss Holly Stockdale
Experimenter: Mr Guangzhen Wang
Local Contact: Dr Leide Cavalcanti
Experimenter: Miss Hongye Li
Experimenter: Dr Magdalena Wlodek
Experimenter: Dr Najet Mahmoudi
Experimenter: Miss Elena Venturelli
Experimenter: Mr Haoran Li
Experimenter: Mr Colin Willis
Experimenter: Dr hab. Anna Bratek-Skicki

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520205

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2520205

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Wuge Briscoe et al; (2026): Interactions between oligomeric polymers and lung-sufactant liposome underpinning inhalation risks of airborne plastics , STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520205

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.