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Researchers warn that the plastic particles could migrate through the body and settle in the organs.
Microplastics end up in the human body through the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink. Humans consume 2,000 pieces of plastic per week, or around five grams of plastic.
Wikipedia/CC/ Oregon State University
According to the WWF, more plastic has been produced since 2000 than in all previous years combined. About a third of the amount of plastic gets into the environment uncontrolled.
City of Lucerne
For the first time, microplastic pollution has been detected in human blood.
Scientists found the tiny particles in almost 80 percent of the people tested.
Researchers are concerned.
Microplastics are everywhere these days – now, for the first time, tiny bits of plastic have even been detected in human blood. Scientists at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam found microplastics in blood samples from almost 80 percent of healthy donors.
The researchers analyzed the blood of 22 anonymous adult test subjects – they found plastic particles in 17 samples. Half of the samples contained PET plastic, which is commonly used for beverage bottles, while a third contained polystyrene, which is used to package food and other products. A quarter of the blood samples contained polyethylene, which is used to make plastic carrier bags. On global average, a person ingests up to five grams of microplastics per week – roughly the weight of a credit card.
Groundbreaking study
The Dutch study was published in the journal Environment International. In it, the researchers explain that they have adapted the existing techniques to detect particles down to a size of 0.0007 millimeters.
“Our study is the first indication that we have polymer particles in our blood – this is a groundbreaking result,” said Vrije Universiteit ecotoxicologist Dick Vethaak to the Guardian. The research would now have to be expanded and the sample size and the number of polymers examined increased. Further studies with several groups are already underway, said Vethaak.
Researchers are worried
Previous studies have shown that the Microplastic content in the faeces of babies is ten times higher than that of adults and that babies fed plastic bottles ingest millions of microplastic particles every day. The latest result is a reason to “be concerned,” said Vethaak. The discovery shows that the particles can migrate through the body and settle in the organs.
The health effects are not yet known. Researchers are concerned because microplastics cause damage to human cells in the lab, and particles from air pollution are already known to enter the body and cause millions of premature deaths annually.