Deakin-Coventry Cotutelle:  Health risks from microplastic exposure

Project supervisor

Dr Aaron Schultz

Additional supervisors

A/Prof Matthew McKenzie 
A/Prof Svetlana Stevanovic 
Dr Anna Bogush (Coventry)
Dr Jana Fried (Coventry)

Deakin faculty and school

Faculty of f Science, Engineering and Built Environment
School of Life and Environmental Sciences

Location

Deakin Waurn Ponds Campus (Australia) and Coventry University (United Kingdom)

This scholarship is available over three years and offers:

• a stipend of $37,450 per annum tax exempt (2026 rate)
• a relocation allowance of $500–1,500 (for single to family) for students moving from interstate.

• at least 12 months of the total period of the program at Coventry University.
• students will be enrolled at their home institution and at their host institution and will receive a Doctoral degree from Coventry University and Deakin University.
  

For international students, the awardee will also receive:

• tuition fees offset for the duration of four years
• single Overseas Student Health Cover policy for the duration of the student visa.

This PhD project will assess the release of microplastics and associated chemical additives from plastic food grade baby feeding products, including plastic baby bottles, and reusable plastic food pouches.

This project will also assess the potential toxicity of MPs and chemical additives released from plastics to neuronal development in babies and infants using zebrafish embryos and human neuronal cell lines as models.

The overarching research questions are:

• are MPs and chemical additives released from plastic baby bottles and food pouches during their normal lifecycle considering the main washing, warm up and sterilisation approaches?
  
• what are the main types of MPs and chemical additives released?
  
• do MPs and/or chemical additives impair neuronal development and functioning?
  

In 2020 alone, 425 metric tonne (Mt) of plastic waste was generated globally, with 62 Mt of that plastic waste mismanaged, with projections suggesting this could double by 2050 (Pottinger et al. 2024) and an estimated 40 Mt of microplastics released annually into the environment (Thompson et al. 2024).

Plastic pollution has, therefore, been recognised globally as one of the most concerning contaminants. Plastic is becoming ubiquitous in our environment, spreading to nearly every corner of the Earth (Thompson et al. 2024; Morrison et al. 2022; Gonzalez-Pleiter et al. 2021) and being detected in a growing number of human tissue samples (Leonard et al. 2024; Saraluck et al. 2024; Montano et al. 2023). The importance of this pressing issue has recently been recognised by the United Nations agreeing to end plastic pollution through the development of a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution (‘Plastic Treaty’) that will address the full lifecycle of plastics (UN Environment Program, 2022). With this ever-growing threat of plastics to environmental and human health, it is vital to assess the sources of plastic exposure and their toxicity risks to humans.

In 2024, a study by Boon et al. demonstrated a potential link between elevated levels of bisphenol A (BPA) in mothers and higher autism spectrum disorder symptoms in 2-year-olds. Bisphenol A is now banned in food grade plastics; however, other bisphenols are still present and have the potential to be endocrine disrupting chemicals (Chen et al., 2016). Hundreds of other chemicals of concern are either incorporated in the manufacturing of common plastics (polyethylene, polypropylene and polyphenylsulfone) and/or have been measured to be released from the plastics (Wagner et al., 2025), highlighting the significant risk that MPs and chemical additives pose to humans, especially babies. One under-researched pathway in which babies are directly coming into contact with a potential source of these chemicals are food grade baby feeding products.

This research will generate new empirical evidence in an area of urgent societal relevance. It is one of the first studies to systematically compare leachability of MPs and chemical additives from baby bottles and food pouches and assessing their potential neurotoxicity. It will also contribute to the development of science-based policy recommendations on human health risks linked to plastic packaging, thus supporting safer product design and better-informed public policy.

To be eligible you must:

• be a domestic or international candidate. Domestic includes candidates with Australian Citizenship, Australian Permanent Residency or New Zealand Citizenship
• meet the PhD entry requirements of both Deakin University and Coventry University, including equivalence and English language proficiency criteria

• enrol full time

• be able to physically locate to both Coventry University (United Kingdom) and Deakin University (Australia).

Please refer to the research degree entry requirements page and Coventry University's research entry criteria page for further information.