Every so often we read of a disturbing piece of research because of the implications it has for the health of the population. It is an old story now going back to early 2022 but the issue hasn’t gone away and potentially will mean our health becoming even more compromised. So what am I alluding to? Microplastics in our blood!
In March 2022, a Dutch research group measured the amount of plastic microparticles in people’s blood. They were ‘shocked’ to find that 80% of their subjects had small pieces of plastic or microparticulates. That is a figure that surprised most of us because we might have thought there should be none but realistically be more like 10 or 15%.
The issue is that microparticles of plastic circulate in our blood stream until they find their way into our tissues and organs. Based on laboratory studies we know that microplastics of any sort will damage cells. We can also assess the damage done by particulates coming out of the air which are known to damage our lungs as well as cause death in a few of us.
For many years now, plastic which comes from all sorts of sources has routinely been dumped in pits or burnt. Its presence has been recorded nearly everywhere -from the highest mountains to the ocean floor so there is really no escape from it. Over time, these large pieces of plastic degrade and break down into increasingly smaller fragments. The process is continuous. Eventually, extremely small particles – micro- and nanoparticles are created. We end up consuming them in water and food and we breathe them in.
The study was conducted by Professor Dick Vethaak, an ecotoxicologist at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The research was funded by the Dutch National Organisation for Health Research and Development and Common Seas, a social enterprise working to reduce plastic pollution. His team analysed blood samples from 22 anonymous healthy subjects. Plastic particulates were found in 17 of them. The type of plastic found in half the samples was PET and a third contained polystyrene. PET plastic is commonly found in bottles and other consumer products whilst polystyrene is used to package a range of products including food. The research is published in Environment International. It is worth by the way reading the letter from Roger Kuhlman who examines the presentation of the research in that paper and cautions against speculative communication. As he rightly points out there can always be external contamination of samples from the very packaging used to contain them.
An earlier study had already shown microplastics in the faeces of babies. What is even more surprising was just how much plastic was present in the faeces of babies. The amount was 10 times higher than in adults. The source was most likely the plastic bottles used to feed these small children. Other studies have shown the presence of other components that are sourced from plastic packaging such as bisphenol and phthalates in human urine. These are soluble chemicals so it might not be so surprising but to find particulates is an altogether different kettle of fish.
One of the best ways to understand whether the issue is a one-off or has been prone to a research error such as sample contamination is then assess subsequent studies. There are often papers written on research which build on previous communications seeking to clarify or extend a general disturbing finding. We know that plastic debris and fragments come in a wide variety of sizes and types. The fragment sizes of most concern or interest are the micro-plastics (MPs; 0.1 μm–5 mm diameter) and nano-plastics (NPs; <0.1 μm diameter) (Besseling et al., 2017). The nanoplastics are of most interest.
References
Besseling, E., Quik, J. T., Sun, M., & Koelmans, A. A. (2017). Fate of nano-and microplastic in freshwater systems: A modeling study. Environmental Pollution, 220, pp. 540-548.
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