Biomarker-based microplastic exposure quantification

A system for providing microplastic exposure information to a subject, comprising:

• an at-home blood collection kit configured for shipment to the subject, the kit comprising a blood collection device and a collection vial pre-loaded with an anticoagulant;
• a laboratory analysis system configured to receive a blood sample and to measure concentrations of a plurality of non-endogenous chemical biomarkers in the blood sample, wherein each biomarker of the plurality of non-endogenous chemical biomarkers is associated with at least one microplastic polymer type, and wherein the one or more microplastic polymer types comprise at least one of polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, or polymethyl methacrylate, and further wherein the plurality of non-endogenous chemical biomarkers comprises at least dimethyl terephthalate, benzoic acid, and terephthalic acid (TPA) as chemical fingerprints configured to be indicative of polyethylene terephthalate exposure, at least methacrylic acid and methyl methacrylate as chemical fingerprints configured to be indicative of polymethyl methacrylate exposure, and at least styrene as a chemical fingerprint configured to be indicative of polystyrene exposure;
• and a report delivery system configured to electronically transmit an exposure report to the subject, wherein the exposure report comprises:
• exposure levels for one or more microplastic polymer types derived from the measured concentrations of the plurality of non-endogenous chemical biomarkers, and a categorization of each exposure level as low, medium, or high relative to a population reference dataset.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, is configured to cause the one or more processors to:

• receive biomarker concentration data comprising measured concentrations of a plurality of non-endogenous chemical biomarkers from a blood sample, wherein each biomarker of the plurality of non-endogenous chemical biomarkers is associated with at least one microplastic polymer type, and wherein the one or more microplastic polymer types comprise at least one of polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, or polymethyl methacrylate, and further wherein the plurality of non-endogenous chemical biomarkers comprises at least dimethyl terephthalate, benzoic acid, and terephthalic acid (TPA) as chemical fingerprints indicative of polyethylene terephthalate exposure, at least methacrylic acid and methyl methacrylate as chemical fingerprints indicative of polymethyl methacrylate exposure, and at least styrene as a chemical fingerprint indicative of polystyrene exposure;
• compare the measured concentrations against a population reference dataset to determine exposure levels for one or more microplastic polymer types;
• categorize each exposure level as low, medium, or high relative to the population reference dataset;
• generate, based at least in part on the measured concentration comparison, an exposure report comprising the exposure levels and a categorization for each of the one or more microplastic polymer types;
• and
• transmit the exposure report to an electronic device associated with a subject from whom the blood sample was collected.