ArticleJournal of toxicology2026
Comparative Evaluation of Urine, Sputum, and BALF for Human Microplastic Exposure Monitoring Using a Multicriteria Decision Framework.
Article in Journal of toxicology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Comparative Evaluation of Urine, Sputum, and BALF for Human Microplastic Exposure Monitoring Using a Multicriteria Decision Framework.Journal of toxicology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Microplastic (MP) contamination in human biological systems has become a global health concern. However, the selection of the most suitable matrix for biomonitoring remains an open area of investigation. This study evaluates three biological matrices-urine, sputum, and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF)-for their suitability in MP detection and monitoring. Using data collated from a recent observational study (30 patients) and peer-reviewed literature, we assessed detection sensitivity, polymer diversity, sample availability, and practical feasibility via a multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework inspired by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Results showed that sputum exhibited the highest median MP concentration (9.4 particles/mL) and BALF showed the greatest polymer diversity (6 polymer types), while urine showed the lowest levels (2.7 particles/mL). The composite MCDA scores ranked urine highest (26/35) for population studies due to its noninvasiveness and reproducibility, followed by sputum (25/35) for respiratory exposure assessment and BALF (21/35) for deep-lung mechanistic studies. We conclude that a matrix-specific strategy is essential for advancing human MP biomonitoring.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.