NJIT Undergrad Alixs Pujols Sheds Light on the Effects of Nanoplastics on Female Reproductive Health
During the pandemic, Alixs Pujols ’24 read an article that inspired her to become an undergraduate research assistant at the Laboratory of Endocrine Disruption & Chemical Biology (EDC Lab). That article showed how researchers had found nanoplastics in the placenta, which caught Pujols’ attention.
Funded by the Undergraduate Research and Innovation (URI) Fellowship, Pujols investigated the effects of nanoplastics on ovarian function by measuring their hormone levels. Her studies focused on preconception. Pujols’ work aims to measure how hormones behave before a woman decides to get pregnant.
Pujols, a forensic science major, believes her experience this summer will equip her as she prepares to take future steps with her career. “I think that it was mainly working in a real lab with real samples that are teaching me and helping my growth because I do not just want to be working in a forensic lab,” she said.
“My goal is to be a DNA analyst, so it's even more focused on the biology side of forensic science. And I think that seeing quantitative polymerase chain reaction, RNA extractions, even hormone levels will be helpful as I pick up more knowledge in the years to come.”
Let me show you why this is important.
Having the opportunity to join the EDC Lab at NJIT is something that Pujols appreciates, especially in the manner that it all happened.
“I reached out to Dr. Genoa Warner, who is our principal investigator. She was so nice from the beginning. She asked for my CV as usual and asked about myself, but after that, she gave me a presentation of her lab. She showed me why I should join her lab,” said Pujols. “I think that was very surprising, but I liked it. It was not just like she asking me, ‘why do you want to work with us?’ It was more like, ‘let me show you why you should join in. Let me show you why this is important. And why should you work with me.’ She's just been super nice all along.”
You're seeing something for the first time.
Pujols remembers how she used to have thoughts that your body would naturally get rid of plastic material. Now, armed with knowledge through her research, she understands that’s not how it works, and is intent on learning more and creating more knowledge in this field.
“Nanoplastics are small enough to permeate your skin. They are small enough to get in the cells. So these nanoplastics are just moving throughout your body at any given point. We're studying nanoplastics that might come from nail polish, or those bottles of shampoo that you touch every time you wash your hair. So they just end up getting translocated to your reproductive system, and your body's not able to get rid of them properly. Because most of them are too small that your body doesn't really see as a threat.”
Of the four hormones she tested – testosterone, progesterone, androstenedione and estradiol – Pujols found out that most of the samples that were treated with nanoplastics are showing higher levels of estradiol than the control.
“This is my first time working in a real lab, my first time working for research. So all the times that I've been doing laboratory work with experiments, they know what to expect. Those experiments have been done multiple times, even hundreds of times, so they know what to expect,” said Pujols.
“When I'm doing these experiments and getting this data, it's a little bit of, ‘I don't feel 100% sure.’ It's exciting because you're seeing something for the first time.”
