Scientists express concern over health impacts, with another study finding particles in arteries

Scientists express concern over health impacts, with another study finding particles in arteries

Microplastics have been found in every human placenta tested in a study, leaving the researchers worried about the potential health impacts on developing foetuses.

The scientists analysed 62 placental tissue samples and found the most common plastic detected was polyethylene, which is used to make plastic bags and bottles. A second study revealed microplastics in all 17 human arteries tested and suggested the particles may be linked to clogging of the blood vessels.

Microplastics have also recently been discovered in human blood and breast milk, indicating widespread contamination of people’s bodies. The impact on health is as yet unknown but microplastics have been shown to cause damage to human cells in the laboratory. The particles could lodge in tissue and cause inflammation, as air pollution particles do, or chemicals in the plastics could cause harm.

Huge amounts of plastic waste are dumped in the environment and microplastics have polluted the entire planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans. People are known to consume the tiny particles via food and water as well as breathing them in, and they have been found in the faeces of babies and adults.

    • Coasting0942@reddthat.com
      28·
      10 months ago

      Probably just lots of cancers faster.

      The real thing to watch for is if cancer rates just occur closer to retirement age anyways. Cause that could boost the economy.

      • qooqie@lemmy.world
        7·
        10 months ago

        Yup and we already see more colon cancer in young adults which makes sense if we’re eating microplastics. Obviously there’s a lot more that goes into it, but microplastics surely aren’t helping

        • ripcord@lemmy.world
          4·
          10 months ago

          Is there actual data saying that it increases cancer risk? Everything I’m finding says that we have no studies (or enough data) to say what the health impacts actually are.

          Edit: I see some of the sources listed further down. Going through them.

          One thing I did find while searching - plastics in bottled water are 20x higher than tap water. Yet another reason to quit buying so many damn plastic bottles

    • hex_m_hell@slrpnk.net
      2·
      10 months ago

      Car tires are a major source of microplastics, making up 28% of the microplastics found in the ocean.

      So yeah, cars fucking us over again. It seems to correlate to cancer and IBS, so not as much making us in to boomers more just killing us and making our lives less pleasant. Thanks again auto industry.

  • Tarcion@sh.itjust.works
    82·
    10 months ago

    It is crazy that it has become this much of a problem and it feels like it is on almost no one’s radar. Is this even reversible at this point? I assume not, but that it can definitely get worse.

  • bigkahuna1986@lemmy.ml
    54·
    10 months ago

    What the article doesn’t explain is that this is a good trade off. Even though we have microplastics in our bodies in return we’re creating a ton of value for share holders.

    • EldritchFeminity
      11·
      10 months ago

      And is so plentiful in fish that I once heard a statistic being thrown around when I worked in the industry that somewhere around 2-5% of the fish we eat annually is plastic. That’s a nice chunk of plastic every 20-50 bites.

      • iAmTheTot@kbin.social
        11·
        10 months ago

        I want to begin by saying I am not dismissing concerns about microplastics in placentas. That’s fucked up.

        However, lots of things “are carcinogens”. It’s the dose that makes the poison.

        • zero_spelled_with_an_ecks@programming.dev
          8·
          10 months ago

          Yeah, and carcinogens typically screw with DNA. So even a tiny dose will cause greater impacts on a fetus both as a greater concentration than the same dose would be for an adult and as damage to DNA will replicate exponentially more times than they would in an adult.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      19·
      10 months ago

      I admit I’m not a doctor, but the chance of petrochemicals in the placenta having no health impact sounds very unlikely.

      • HAL_9_TRILLION@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        6·
        10 months ago

        No health impact is surely an overstatement, but I have to wonder how long it’s been going on. They say that aerosolized rubber from car tires is a contributor, and we’ve been driving for a hundred years. Plastic packaging has been in wide use since the 50s. Surely there is a health impact but it’s also been going on long enough that we must know our bodies tolerate it at least somewhat.

        I’ve taken to using silicone instead of plastic bags in my house to minimize my exposure, but I live next to a busy street so I feel kinda hosed.

        • smnwcj@fedia.io
          2·
          10 months ago

          Big changes in quantity! I suspect a small amount is well tolerated, but we are exposed to far more. We are also seeing more exposure over ones lifetime.

          We also don’t know what number of on-the-rise conditions can be attributed to it. We don’t know the full impact, but seems safe to suggest reducing exposure through regulation.