NJIT Undergrad Awarded for Research into Nanoplastics' Impact on Placental Health
The average person is estimated to consume up to a credit card's worth of plastic particles each week. However, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) undergrad Allison Harbolic is now uncovering the effects that our regular intake of nano-sized plastics can have at a critical stage of life — during pregnancy.
Harbolic's latest research into how nanoplastics impact placental health recently won her prestigious honors from the Society of Toxicology (SOT), an international scientific organization with members from more than 60 countries.
Harbolic ’26 was one of just 20 undergraduates nationwide to receive the Society’s “Undergraduate Research Award” at its 64th Annual Meeting and ToxExpo in Orlando, Fla. The award, which supported her conference travel and networking opportunities, marked her second appearance at the Society’s event.
“It was an honor to present at such an established conference in the field of toxicology. I know the research is very relevant right now, but I never expected to be recognized on that stage,” said Harbolic, a biology major and Albert Dorman Honors College Scholar from Hopewell Junction, N.Y. “While there is a push all over social media for choosing cleaner consumer products, plastic exposure is nearly unavoidable. We can’t see these particles, but it’s a huge public health concern.”
Working in the lab of NJIT chemistry professor Genoa Warner since her first year, Harbolic has been exploring how exposure to nanoplastics during pregnancy affects placental development in mice.
“Nanoplastic studies in general are a newer area of research,” said Warner, who leads NJIT’s Endocrine Disruption and Chemical Biology Laboratory. “We know humans have plastic in our bodies ... but it still isn’t well known what the health impacts are of these particles.”
Harbolic said her interest was sparked by the wave of research that has followed the discovery of microplastics in the human placenta in 2020. While microplastics measure up to 5 millimeters, nanoplastics can be vastly smaller at less than a micron, roughly 1/70th the width of human hair.
“It’s especially concerning because the placenta’s role is preventing entry of foreign materials to avoid fetal exposure. Other compounds with the ability to enter the placenta have been linked to long-term impacts on fetal health,” explained Harbolic, who earned her first research accolade from the Society of Toxicology last year, receiving the organization’s Diversity Initiatives Career Development Award. “We’re using one of the best models for the female reproductive system to identify disruptions that nanoplastic exposure may cause to different regions of the placenta.”
Using specialized microscopy techniques, Harbolic and Warner have found evidence that plastic particles as small as 200 nanometers can infiltrate placental tissue — a finding with potentially significant implications for fetal development.
“If microplastics can make it to the placenta, nanoplastic particles can as well, and potentially in larger concentrations,” said Harbolic. “We’ve also observed an influence in maternal and fetal blood space sizes, which could have an impact on nutrient and waste exchange between the mother and the fetus.”
Harbolic is expanding this work to study the combined effects of nanoplastics and plasticizers — chemicals that leach from plastics — to better simulate real-world exposures.
“We’re never exposed to just one compound at a time. When plastics degrade, they leach phthalates, and while there haven’t been studies on placental effects, research on male reproductive systems shows worse outcomes with combined exposure,” said Harbolic. “I hope that by demonstrating the impacts of mixed exposures, we can shift toxicology toward studying how humans are exposed to multiple compounds simultaneously.”
Harbolic’s path as an award-winning undergraduate researcher began in her first semester, when she proactively sought out research opportunities on campus, leading to Warner’s lab and early funding through NJIT’s Provost Undergraduate Research and Innovation program.
Since, Harbolic has received an NIH URISE grant and has already contributed to numerous peer-reviewed studies, recently co-authoring a study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials focusing on the rapid detection of nanoplastics within the placenta.
“She functions in the lab like a graduate student, both as a researcher and mentor to other students,” said Warner. “Her latest SOT award really reflects the significance of her research contributions and her growth as a scientist.”
Most recently, Harbolic took third-place undergraduate honors in NJIT’s 2025 Dana Knox Research Showcase.
Now looking ahead, Harbolic hopes to apply her toxicology knowledge to public health and medicine while continuing her research into environmental impacts on human health.
“It takes many studies and educating a wide range of people to make changes in public policy,” she said. “The more people that we educate about this topic, the better and more likely we are to see change.”
