How Much Plastic Do We Breathe? Agrimi Reports on CNR’s Cellophan Project
Gennaro Agrimi (UNIBA, TwInn4MicroUp) reports for GreenPlanner Magazine on the closing event, held on 14 April 2026 at the Rome headquarters of Italy’s National Research Council (CNR), of the “Cellophan project: a study characterising airborne micro- and nanoplastic emissions in workplaces”, coordinated by CNR’s Institute of Atmospheric Pollution (IIA) and co-funded by INAIL under the BRiC programme. The article explains why micro- and nanoscale plastic particles are of particular concern for occupational health, since they can penetrate deep into lung tissue; it cites a review by Bardawil et al. in the journal Microplastics linking such exposure to oxidative stress, inflammatory responses and changes in respiratory epithelium.
Cellophan’s findings, summarised in the piece, span three types of production settings:
- Tyre-processing plants
- Bottling lines
- Textile facilities
In these environments, plastic additives such as plasticisers, antioxidants and flame retardants were used as indirect chemical tracers, revealing environment-specific airborne plastic “signatures.” The organic fraction of PM10 particulate matter near these activities reached up to 70%, well above urban or non-industrial levels, falling during equipment downtime and rising again during production – evidence pointing to polymer materials as a significant contributor.
The article notes that the concluding Cellophan workshop brought together researchers from the University of Cassino, the University of Molise, CNR-ISMN and CREA, covering sampling and analytical methods (notably Py-GC/MS), toxicology and biodistribution, and morphological/chemical characterisation of airborne dust, closing with a roundtable on future monitoring and policy approaches.
Extra media: Read the article – https://www.greenplanner.it/2026/04/17/microplastiche-respiriamo-aria/