Microplastics refer to plastic fragments and particles with a diameter of less than 5 mm, released during the use of plastic products, especially plastic products for food use, such as bottled water, food packaging bags, baby bottles, etc. In the process of eating, microplastics enter the body with food, posing a threat to our health. It is estimated that a person consumes about 5g of microplastics per week, which is equivalent to eating the amount of the next credit card.
Studies have successively found the presence of microplastics in human feces, excised colon specimens, and even placental tissue, and healthy people contain 20 microplastic particles for every 10 grams of feces.
A 2021 study further showed that the intake of microplastics harms intestinal health – 1.5 times more microplastics in the feces of patients with inflammatory bowel disease than in healthy people, and the higher the content of microplastics in the stool, the more pronounced the symptoms of diarrhea, rectal bleeding, and abdominal pain. (Related reading: Takeaway and bottled water are destroying your body!) Scientists detect large amounts of microplastics in patients with intestinal diseases)
But here comes the more worrying! Recently, scientists from the Free University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands have found the presence of microplastics in human blood, indicating that microplastics in the human body are no longer as simple as "eating and pulling out", and it may affect various organs with the blood flow through the body (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Research results (Source: Environment International)
The researchers detected 5 of the most common plastic components in the venous blood of 22 healthy volunteers, including:
PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate): Polymethyl methacrylate, plexiglass, commonly known as acrylic, many implantable medical materials, including stomatology and orthopedic consumables contain PMMA ingredients.
2. PP (polypropylene): Polypropylene, widely used in clothing, blankets and other fiber products, medical equipment, automobiles, parts, but also used in food, pharmaceutical packaging.
3. PS (polystyrene): Polystyrene, thermoplastic, is often used to make a variety of plastic cups and disposable foam lunch boxes that need to withstand the temperature of boiling water.
4. PE (polyethylene): polyethylene, mainly used in food packaging, such as fruits, vegetables, semi-finished products purchased by supermarkets are all pee plastic wrap.
5. PET (polyethylene terephthalate): polyethylene terephthalate, the main raw material for the production of cola bottles and mineral water bottles.
After strictly controlling possible plastic contamination during sampling, sample preparation and analysis, the researchers detected the presence of microplastics in the blood of nearly 80% of the volunteers (77%, 17/22), and on average, each volunteer had 1.6 ug of microplastics per milliliter of blood sample.
The highest proportion of pets was detected, and the presence of this substance was detected in the blood of 50% of the volunteers, and the blood concentration was as high as 2.4 ug/ml, indicating that most people contain microplastics released from bottled water. Followed by PS (36%), PE (23%), the highest blood concentrations are 4.8ug / ml and 7.1ug / ml, these two types of plastics are mainly used in plastic wrap, disposable foam lunch boxes, plastic cups, etc., indicating that microplastics from food packaging will also enter the human blood circulation, and the amount of entry should not be underestimated. Finally, PMMA, found in only 5% of volunteer blood, did not detect the presence of PP in all volunteer blood.
Figure 2 Comparison of the amount of four microplastic substances (Source: Environment International)
This study found the presence of microplastics in human blood for the first time, considering that blood circulation in the body is in all directions, supplying oxygen and nutrients to various organs, taking away metabolic waste, it is not difficult to imagine that microplastics also flow through the body with blood flow.
Microplastics that enter the bloodstream may be excreted through kidney filtration or bile excretion, or may be deposited in organs such as the liver and spleen through perforated capillaries. Scientists don't know how long microplastics will last in the circulatory system, but the fact that microplastics are found in blood samples at least shows that the speed at which the human body removes microplastics is lower than the rate at which they are ingested from the outside world.
In wild and experimental animals, scientists have found that microplastic exposure has been linked to infertility, inflammation and cancer. In the future, it is also necessary to study and explore the impact of microplastics on human health, but it is necessary to reduce the frequency of use of plastic products and prevent them from happening.
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Resources:
[1] H.A. Leslie, M. J. M. van Velzen, S.H. Brandsma, et al. Discovery and quantification of plastic particle pollution in human blood, Environment International (2022), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107199
[2] Schwabl P, K ppel S, K nigshofer P, et al. Detection of Various Microplastics in Human Stool: A Prospective Case Series. Ann Intern Med. 2019 Oct 1;171(7):453-457. doi: 10.7326/M19-0618. Epub 2019 Sep 3. PMID: 31476765.
[3] Yan Z, Liu Y, Zhang T, et al. Analysis of Microplastics in Human Feces Reveals a Correlation between Fecal Microplastics and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Status. Environ Sci Technol. 2022 Jan 4;56(1):414-421. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.1c03924. Epub 2021 Dec 22. PMID: 34935363.