Adverse health effects of exposure to plastic, microplastics and their additives: environmental, legal and policy implications for Israel.

Background: Israel is a regional "hotspot" of plastic pollution, with little discussion of potential adverse health effects from exposure to plastic. This review aims to stimulate discussion and drive policy by focusing on these adverse health effects.

Main Body: Plastics are synthetic polymers containing additives which can leach from food- and beverage-contact plastic into our food and beverages, and from plastic textiles onto our skin.

Uptake and incorporation of PCBs by eastern Mediterranean rabbitfish that consumed microplastics.

Two experiments were executed to assess the feasibility of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) transfer to fish tissues via MPs as a vector. PCBs that occur in the marine environment were tested for their adsorption to four different MP types. PCB congeners showed the highest adsorption levels to Polypropylene homo-polymer.

Exceptionally high abundances of microplastics in the oligotrophic Israeli Mediterranean coastal waters.

Seasonal sea surface microplastic distribution was recorded at 17 sites along the Israeli Mediterranean coast. Microplastics (0.3-5mm) were found in all samples, with a mean abundance of 7.

Differential gene expression in white and brown preadipocytes.

White (WAT) and brown (BAT) adipose tissue are tissues of energy storage and energy dissipation, respectively. Experimental evidence suggests that brown and white preadipocytes are differentially determined, but so far not much is known about the genetic control of this determination process. The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed genes involved in brown and white preadipocyte development.

The application of DNA microarrays in gene expression analysis.

DNA microarray technology is a new and powerful technology that will substantially increase the speed of molecular biological research. This paper gives a survey of DNA microarray technology and its use in gene expression studies. The technical aspects and their potential improvements are discussed.