Microplastics in intravenous fluids: Occurrence, characterization, and risk indicators

Abstract

In this study, the presence of microplastics was investigated in a total of 50 commercially available intravenous fluid samples in Türkiye, and ATR/FT-IR spectroscopy was used for particle identification. As a result of the analyses, microplastic contamination was detected in only 9 samples. Considering all samples examined, the average amount of microplastics was calculated as 0.40 ± 0.90 MP/L. Accordingly, microplastic exposure associated with the single-use administration of intravenous fluids (all samples) was determined to be approximately 0.20 MPs per unit. While the microplastic diversity index indicated very limited diversity at 0.02 ± 0.11, the average polymeric risk index was 5.64 ± 18.2, indicating a low overall risk level. The average pollution load index for all samples was 1.06, corresponding to a moderate contamination level. The findings show that intravenous fluids generally exhibit a safe profile; however, microplastics represent an increasingly important quality and exposure parameter in medical products that should be monitored.