Plastic is now everywhere, with small pieces found in some of the human body’s major organs, including the placenta.
Given how easily microscopic particles can enter our tissues, it’s important to know exactly what risks they may pose to our health.
researchers are busy researching the effects Microplastics contained in mini-replicas of organs, and with the mouse, to find out how they affect the human body. However, the concentrations of microplastics used in these studies may not reflect human exposure in the real world, and few studies have been conducted in humans.
A small study in Italy found microplastic fragments in fat deposits surgically removed from patients undergoing open chest surgery. clogged artery – and reported on their health almost three years later.
Deleting fatty spots From arteries that have been narrowed by a procedure called carotid endarterectomy Reduces risk of future stroke.
The team behind the new study, led by medical researcher Raffaele Marfera from the University of Campania in Naples, found that patients with microplastics in their plaques were significantly less likely to suffer from strokes, heart attacks, and deaths. I wondered how the risks compare. I didn’t.
Researchers followed 257 patients for 34 months and found that nearly 60 percent had measurable amounts of polyethylene present in plaques taken from fat-thickened arteries, and 12 percent were extracted. They discovered that polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was also present in the fat deposits.
PVC Available in both rigid and flexible forms, it is used in the production of water pipes, plastic bottles, flooring and packaging materials. polyethylene It’s the best Commonly produced plasticsalso used in plastic bags, films, and bottles.
Microplastics had previously been found circulating in people’s bloodstreams, so researchers were understandably concerned about heart health.lab-based research suggest Microplastics can cause inflammation and oxidative stress in heart cells, impairing heart function in animals such as mice, altering heart rate, and scarring the heart.
Observational data from Occupational exposure research [also] “Our findings suggest that people exposed to plastic-related pollution, including polyvinyl chloride, have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease than the general population,” Marfera et al. write.
In this study, patients who had microplastics in their removed plaques were less likely to experience a stroke or nonfatal heart attack 34 months later than patients whose plaques removed by surgeons had no detectable microplastics. , were twice as likely to die from any cause.
The amount of microplastics, and even smaller particles called nanoplastics, was measured using a technique called . Pyrolysis – Gas chromatography – Mass spectrometryAnd its presence was confirmed using stable isotope analysis, another method that can distinguish between carbon in human tissue and carbon in plastics made from petrochemicals.
Microplastics were also visible under a powerful microscope. Researchers observed pieces of plastic with jagged edges inside immune cells called macrophages and within fatty plaques. When examining tissue samples, the team also found that patients with microplastics in their plaques had higher levels of inflammatory markers.
However, it should be noted that such observational studies cannot conclusively conclude that microplastics are causing downstream cardiac effects. It’s just that there is an association.was not considered in the study Other risk factors for cardiovascular diseaseSmoking, lack of exercise, air pollution, etc.
“Although this study does not tell us what other exposures contributed to patients’ adverse outcomes, the discovery of microplastics and nanoplastics in plaque tissue is itself a breakthrough discovery, and how “It raises a series of urgent questions, including whether we should reduce the number of children who are living in the United States,” Philip J. Landrigan, a pediatrician, public health physician, and epidemiologist at Boston University, wrote of the revelations. In the accompanying editorial.
plastic production is has increased explosively over the past 20 yearsAlthough only a small portion of it is recycled, the incidence of cardiovascular disease is still decreasing. falling in some parts of the worldTherefore, further research is needed to understand the relationship between the two.
This research New England Medical Journal.
