Figure 2.

2-step evaluation protocol. In phase 1, placental tissues, meconium, and maternal stool, negative controls, and contaminations controls were collected and analyzed for MPs. Negative controls include testing for MPs > 50 µm of the instruments used during the preparation of the tissues (placenta, meconium, maternal stool) without the actual tissues. To rule out possible contamination with plastic during the sampling and preparation steps, in phase 2, the placenta blocks were either intensively washed or only the “core” placental tissue was collected. Next to meconium, airborne fallout was sampled.