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.
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Here’s an article from 2020 about micro plastics being a carcinogen https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389420309833
Here’s another that goes over individual chemicals that may leech out of them https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7068600/
That’s just a few things from a search. There are already known impacts and we understand the mechanisms.
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.
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.
I admit I’m not a doctor, but the chance of petrochemicals in the placenta having no health impact sounds very unlikely.
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.
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.