Scientists have discovered microplastics in human blood for the first time and have warned that the particles could also be reaching the organs.. This is a finding that highlights the scope of this type of contamination, which reaches the human body through food and the ingestion of beverages, among other ways.
Tiny, mostly invisible plastic particles have already been found almost everywhere on Earth, from the deepest oceans to the highest mountains, as well as in the air, soil, and food chain.
A Dutch study published in the journal Environment International this Thursday offers the results of analyzing blood samples from 22 healthy, anonymous volunteers and found microplastics in nearly 80 percent of them.
Half of the blood samples showed traces of PET plastic, widely used to make beverage bottles, while more than a third had polystyrene, used for disposable food containers and many other products.
“This is the first time we have been able to detect and quantify” such microplastics in human blood, said Dick Vethaak, an ecotoxicologist at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
“This is proof that we have plastics in our bodies, and we shouldn’t have them,” he told the AFP agency, calling for more research to determine how this fact could be affecting health.
“Where do they end up in the body? Can they be eliminated? Excreted? Or are they retained in certain organs, possibly accumulating, or are they even able to cross the blood-brain barrier?” he asked.
They enter the body by many routes
The study states that microplastics they could have entered the body through many routes: through the air, water, or food, but also in products like toothpaste, lipstick, and tattoo ink.
“It is scientifically plausible that plastic particles can be transported to organs through the bloodstream,” the study adds.
Vethaak also said that there could be other types of microplastics in the blood that your study didn’t detect; for example, he could not perceive particles larger than the diameter of the needle used to take the sample.
The study was funded by the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development, as well as by Common Seas, a UK-based group that aims to reduce plastic pollution.
Alice Horton, an anthropogenic pollutants scientist at Britain’s National Oceanography Centre, said the study showed “unequivocally” that there were microplastics in the blood.
“This study contributes to the evidence that plastic particles have not only invaded the environment, but are also invading our bodies”told the Science Media Center.
Fay Couceiro, a reader in biogeochemistry and environmental pollution at the University of Portsmouth, noted that despite the small sample size and lack of data on participants’ level of exposure, she felt the study was “robust and will stand up to scrutiny.” ” from the researchers.
He also called for more research on the matter. “After all, blood unites all the organs in our body and if the plastic is there, it could be anywhere on us.”
Reference study (in English): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412022001258?via%3Dihub