Microplastics: A 2022 study came as a shock to both the scientific community and the public at large in finding out that scientists had detected microplastics in the blood of 80% of those they tested. Over decades, the narrative of the plastic crisis has been presented as a tragedy of the environment, a tale of floating garbage piles in our oceans, suffocated wildlife, and polluted shorelines.
We have watched the pictures, read the statistics, and possibly experienced a sense of guilt when we were having a one-use coffee cup. But it is this new finding that puts the story more on a basis of an external and a biological threat, rather than an environmental one. The plastic issue is no longer located elsewhere, but in a very real and disturbing way, it is within us.
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Having such synthetic particles in our highly essential bodily fluid begs serious concerns on how they got there, how they may affect our health, and the long term effects of living in a planet filled with plastic. This paper will explore the revolutionary science behind these discoveries and the possible health effects, the most likely routes these particles use to reach our bodies commonly and what is being done to deal with this crisis, which is not only urgent and serious but also growing more and more serious.
Table of Contents
What Are Microplastics?
In order to see the latent threat we have to define the threat. Microplastics can be described as any type of plastic that is smaller than five millimeters in size or about the size of a sesame seed. This general term covers a wide range of shapes and sizes, ranging through microscopic strands of fibers lost off synthetic clothes to tiny pieces that have broken off of larger plastic products such as bottles, bags, and packages.
There are two main sources of them. Primary microplastics are small pieces of plastic that have a purpose or use, e.g. microbeads in some cosmetics and cleaning items or the pellets (so-called nurdles), which are the raw material in making plastics.
These are the particles that are omnipresent in the contemporary life. They have been detected in bottled water, seafood, sea salt, cosmetics and even in air that we breathe. Their abundance is astounding even though it cannot be seen naked because of their small size. The mechanism by which the plastics get into the human organism is a complicated and intractable attack. Directly inhaled fibers and dust can enter into the lungs. Microplastics consumed in food and water may occur in sources that have been contaminated by microplastics, and the particles may have broken down there, or it may be consumed by the marine animals and subsequently consumed by us.
How Microplastics Got into Human Blood and Organs?
The possibility of migration of microplastics out of environment into human body was a hypothetical issue years ago. Nevertheless, in the recent history of scientific breakthroughs, this theory has been turned into a verified, frightening fact. The findings have provided the basis of a new research area on human plastic pollution or aplastic anemia.
Among the most important publications, which was released in 2022 in the journal Environment International, is the first evidence according to which microplastics are found in human blood. Professor Dick Vethaak and his team of Dutch researchers examined the blood samples of 22 anonymous and healthy volunteers. With great sensitive methods of analysis they could discover and determine small traces of plastic polymers.
But the findings were shocking: 17 participants out of 22 (about 80 percent) of them had microplastics in their blood. The predominant kind was the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) the plastic material used in the production of single-use drink bottles and polystyrene (PS), which is commonly used in food packaging. The procedure used was not complex therefore making it a rigorous method of identifying certain plastic polymers through the use of mass spectrometry, thereby giving conclusive evidence on the existence of the same.
The consequences of this observation are far-reaching, as they imply that not only are these particles going through our digestive tract, but they are being transmitted to organs and tissues. It was supported by the other groundbreaking study at the time, which was carried out in the UK and was printed in the journal Environment International in 2021. The scientists analyzed samples of placenta of 10 healthy women and found microplastic particles in all of them.
The particles which were detected by the researchers are called PET and a kind of pigment applied in paints and cosmetic products and were located on both sides of the placental area; on the maternal side and the fetal side. This finding was raising a severe question regarding the possibility of microplastics bypassing the placental barrier which is an essential protective barrier against developing fetuses and the health effects it will have on babies in the womb.
Microplastics have been found in human tissues and not just in the blood and placenta. In a 2022 study published in the journal Science of The Total Environment, the authors discovered the presence of microplastic fibers and fragments in deep areas of the lungs of living patients. The Italian scholars took the lung tissue of 13 patients, who were being operated on because of different reasons. The findings were discouraging: 11 out of the 13 patients (more than 80 percent) had plastic debris in their lung tissue, and the most prevalent one was polypropylene (PP) and PET.
This observation highly indicates that inhalation is a major and direct route of plastic exposure and the minute, airborne fibers infiltrate far within the respiratory tract.Such studies are based on an accumulating evidence base, such as the research on the presence of microplastics in human stool and breast milk. The absorption and transport systems are undergoing research, but the scientific opinion is obvious: microplastics have entered the human body.
MicroPlastics Effect on Humans
Having a foreign substance in the human body is an issue in itself. The possibility of damage is increased when that material is a synthetic polymer. Though effects of microplastic on long-term health have yet to be comprehensively investigated (the emergence of the topic of research makes it so), researchers have already found a few plausible and alarming dangers basing on the existing research and the characteristics of plastics and their additives.
Inflammation and damage to cells are one of the most urgent ones. Microplastics are alien substances. The immune system of the body will also react when they find their way to tissues or organs and this will cause an inflammatory reaction. Chronic inflammation is one of the precursors of the broad spectrum of diseases, including cardiovascular problems, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. The cells and tissues may also be physically harmed by the particles themselves because sharp edges or irregular shapes scrape the cell membranes and may cause cell death or dysfunction.
The second significant threat is that of disrupted hormones. The plastic particles in themselves may serve as carriers of a myriad of toxic chemicals most of which are added in the manufacturing process in order to modify their properties. These substances are endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), the presence of which is well-documented. Once the microplastics are introduced into the body, the EDCs can leach out of them, and thus imitate, block, or otherwise disrupt the hormones of the body. This interference may disrupt the reproductive system, metabolism, and even brain development, causing some concerns of possible connections with fertility loss, obesity, and behavioral disorders.
The possible correlation with such more severe conditions as cancer and general fertility decline is also being examined. Animal research has indicated that microplastics and chemicals that accompany them may cause oxidative stress, DNA damage, as well as the development of tumors. These results cannot be directly applied to human beings, but still, they give a disturbing outline of the types of effects that could be taking place at a cellular level. It is imperative to emphasize that researchers are yet to learn the extent of these long-term effects.
The studies are currently underway, yet the initial results are impressive enough to raise a concern and take urgent measures. The risk is that when we finally obtain certain evidence of long term damage the extent of contamination may be irreversible.
What is the Origin of Microplastics?
The process of microplastics entering our organism is not a single, uncommon event, but a continuous and widespread process, and the number of the entry points is numerous and integrated into the very structure of our life in the modern world. The most important step in mitigating exposure is to understand these sources.
Bottled water in plastics can be classified as a significant contributor. In a revolutionary study in 2024, researchers at Columbia University published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences discovered that an average one-liter of water may have some 240,000 plastic particles on average. They are not only microplastics but also a new and smaller category of particles, known as nanoplastics, smaller than one micron in size and more easily permeating cell membranes. The analysis has shown that such particles are probably added during the bottling operation and when the bottle is degraded.
We use our food as a major source of water besides water. Microplastics may be collected by seafood, especially shellfish, which are filter feeders, as a result of contaminated water. Equally, sea salt has been detected to have microplastic particles, as well as honey, beer and even produce.
Another major route is the air that we breathe. Indoor microplastic pollution mainly consists of airborne particles of synthetic fabrics. Whenever we wash polyester fleece or a nylon piece of garments, thousands of microscopic fibers come off into the water, and thousands more off into the air as we move and wear.
Such fibers are deposited as dust in the homesteads and are easily inhaled or ingested. An impressive and disturbing metaphor that can be used to understand the magnitude of this consumption is the one widely used adage: the typical human skimmed a credit card worth of plastic every seven days. It does not mean a real occurrence but symbolically a symbolic explanation of how each of the small pieces of microplastics gets into our body in one way or another, a continuous and unnoticed flood of pollution.
How to Avoid Microplastics?
With the presence of microplastics everywhere, it might appear that we are in an impossible position to defend ourselves. Nevertheless, researchers are unanimous that it is necessary to implement a multi-pronged strategy involving both individual and systematic changes in the system and at the policy level. It is an issue that needs individual accountability and national intervention.
Personally, the first step that everyone can take is to minimize the use of single-use plastics. It includes the usage of a reusable water bottle, reusable coffee cups, and using personal bags on shopping. Although this can be a minor step, it will lead to a decrease in the need to manufacture new plastic and the volume of plastic debris which will ultimately break down into microplastics.
The other important step is to replace bottled water with filtered tap water. Tap water does not contain no microplastics, but there are usually much fewer of them in relation to bottled water. These contaminants can also be reduced or eliminated by the use of a carbon-based or reverse-osmosis water filter.
To handle airborne exposure, specialists suggest using natural fabrics such as cotton, wool, linen, and hemp instead of the synthetic fabric such as polyester, nylon, and acrylic as much as possible. This is just a decision that can decrease the amount of microfibers that are released into our houses and the environment. Also, many of these small particles can be trapped by enhancing the indoor air quality using HEPA air filters.
Still, the single acts of people will never be enough to resolve an issue of this scale. This is where the importance of the public policy comes in. Scholars emphasize that legislation should be backed to ban microbeads and other types of microplastics that are deliberately added. This issue is too immense to be solved by an individual but by a collective, on the top and bottom approach.
The Bigger Picture -A Planet Turning Plastic.
The health crisis of human body is intertwined with the larger crisis of environment developing in the global scale. The microplastics in our blood and in our organs are the ones polluting our oceans, contaminating our soil, and threatening the lives of thousands of wildlife. It is not a distinct health narrative but the last biological stage of an environmental tragedy.
Explicitly, plastic waste has infiltrated all regions of the world, deep to the bottom of the ocean floor, to the peak of the tallest mountains. Organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have been raising more and more alarm over the tragic outcomes of this ubiquitous pollution. They emphasize the negative effects of plastic waste on the marine environment (entanglement and ingestion of marine organisms) and the ability of microplastics to change the soil structure and damage essential soil microbes.
The Urgent Call to Raise Awareness.
The presence of microplastics in human blood and organs is something to be sobered by and wake up to. It makes us face the unpleasant reality that the plastic problem has ceased to be a far-off environmental problem and a very personal matter regarding our health. The problem is that we have been long complacent with the notion that plastic is something disposable and harmless. We can now realize that its permanence and perseverance are exactly what makes it a threat.
The complacency has ended. Both governments, industries and individual persons should share the urgency. This necessitates a move towards a linear approach of plastic production and disposal, towards a circular model that emphasizes on the reduction, reuse, and strong recycling. It requires increased funding of scientific studies to get the full picture regarding the health effects of the exposure to plastics and the creation of alternatives that will be safe and sustainable. Above all, it demands a radical shift in the relationship that we have with the materials we engage with on a daily basis.
The plastic issue is not concerning the planet anymore, it is concerning our own blood. The pollution has gone house to house. The question now remains whether we can take something to clean-up before it is late?
