Plastics are increasingly ubiquitous, with minute pieces discovered throughout the human body’s major organs, including the placenta.
We need to know exactly what kinds of health dangers these tiny particles could present because of how easy they can enter our tissues.
In order to gain an understanding of how microplastics might affect the human body, researchers have been hard at work examining their effects in mice and in miniature versions of organs. Few studies have been conducted on humans, and the concentrations of microplastics employed in those investigations may not accurately represent what people are exposed to in the actual world.
Recently, a tiny study conducted in Italy discovered fragments of microplastics in fatty deposits that were surgically removed from patients who underwent angioplasty to clear their clogged arteries. The study also documented the patients’ health results almost three years later.
The risk of subsequent strokes is decreased by removing fatty plaques from restricted arteries through a process known as a carotid endarterectomy.
Leading this new study is Raffaele Marfella, a medical researcher from the University of Campania in Naples. The researchers wanted to see how individuals with and without microplastics in their plaques compared in terms of their risk of stroke, heart attacks, and mortality.
After following 257 patients for 34 months, the researchers discovered that 12 percent of the patients had polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in the retrieved fat deposits and that over 60% of the patients had detectable levels of polyethylene in plaques removed from their fat-thickened arteries.
Plastic bottles, floors, water pipes, and packaging are all made of PVC, which is available in both flexible and rigid forms.The most widely produced plastic is polyethylene, which is also used to make bottles, films, and bags.
The researchers had legitimate concerns regarding heart health because microplastics have been discovered to be circulating through people’s bloodstreams in the past. According to studies conducted in laboratories, microplastics may produce oxidative stress and inflammation in heart cells, as well as affect heart pace, function, and result in cardiac scarring in animals like mice.
“Observational data from occupational-exposure studies suggest an increased risk of cardiovascular disease among persons who are exposed to plastics-related pollution, including polyvinyl chloride, than that seen in the general population,” Marfella and colleagues noted.
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