What you Need to Know About Micro-plastics, Environment and Your Health
Degrading plastics turn into “microplastics.” and are harmful to the Environment and our health.
Plastics are all around us, from the polyester clothes we wear and the packaging that contains our food to construction materials in our homes and more.
And according to new research presented at the 26th United European Gastroenterology Week in Vienna, plastics are also inside of us.
Researchers from the Medical University of Vienna and the Environment Agency Austria tested stool samples from people in eight countries around the world.
They found that microplastic particles were present in every stool sample they tested. On average, they found 20 microplastic particles in every 10 grams of stool.
Those findings don’t surprise Rolf Halden, PhD, PE, director of the Center for Environmental Health Engineering at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University.
“It would be naïve to think that the plastics that are present in our clothing, on our skin, and in our work and living spaces would not also enter our bodies,” Halden told Healthline.
“What surprises me more is how long it’s taken until we’ve developed an interest in looking into this exposure,” he added.
Microplastics are small pieces of plastic that measure less than 5 millimeters long.
They’re intentionally added to some consumer products, including certain types of cosmetics and household cleaners that contain plastic microbeads as exfoliants.
Microplastics are also unintentionally created when larger pieces of plastic break down.
These tiny bits of plastic accumulate in the dust in our homes, workplaces, and wider environments.
They can also enter our food chain — not only through the manufacturing methods used to process foods, but also through the bodies of animals we eat.
For example, significant quantities of microplastics have been found in tuna, shrimp, and lobster.
Although plastic products have been a pervasive part of modern life for more than half a century, the science of plastic exposure is still young.
“We have probably been immersed in microplastics and nanoplastics for a long time,” Halden told Healthline, “and we’re finally trying to understand, what are the implications?”
Although more research is needed to understand the potential effects of plastic exposure, studies suggest that chemicals in many plastic products might be harmful to human health.
For example, the basic building blocks of some types of plastic have known toxic effects.
Bisphenol A (BPA), for instance, is used to produce certain types of polycarbonate, a type of tough and transparent plastic.
BPA is a controversial endocrine-disrupting chemical that may interfere with natural hormone activity in humans.
Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declared that for most people, their exposure to BPA is at safe levels.
But some research in animals and humans suggests BPA exposure may raise the risk of birth defects, metabolic disease, and other health problems, warns the author of a review article published in Reproductive Toxicology.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), standardized toxicity tests have found quantities of BPA in humans below levels of potential concern.
However, recent studies in animals have found that even low doses of BPA might have negative effects. These studies have yet to be replicated in humans, though.
Even in cases when the basic building blocks of plastics themselves pose little to no risk to human health, potentially harmful chemicals are often added to plastics to modify their appearance or functionality.
For example, phthalates are endocrine-disrupting chemicals often used as “plasticizers” to make plastics more flexible.
Among other health effects, phthalate exposure has been linked to reduced testosterone levels in male fetuses.
“Phthalate syndrome is something that is found in males who are exposed to phthalates in utero,” Shanna Swan, PhD, a professor of environmental and public health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told Healthline.
“And what happens is that the development of the male genitals is incompletely masculinized,” she said.
For example, her research suggests that male fetuses with higher levels of phthalate exposure are more likely to be born with testicles that haven’t fully descended and small penises.
They also tend to have a shorter than average distance between their anus and genitals. This has been linked to increased risk of infertility later in life.
In addition to phthalates, other chemicals are often added to plastics —many of which have been linked to potential health effects.
For example, coloring agents often contain heavy metals or other toxic ingredients. Flame retardants can have endocrine-disrupting effects. So can the antimicrobial agents added to some plastics, Halden says.
Microplastic particles can also pick up other pollutants from the environment around them.
“When the plastics are in the environment for a long time, they take up contaminants from the air, from the water, and from the soil,” Halden said.
“We call them ‘toxic rafts,'” he continued, “so it doesn’t really matter what the makeup of the plastic is, but if it has a tendency to attract environmental pollutants and store them and concentrate them, then obviously we are concerned about contact with such material.”
More research is needed to understand the potential health effects of not only exposure to microplastics, but also nanoplastics, Halden says.
Nanoplastics measure up to 1 to 100 micrometers in length. At that size, they can potentially enter the human bloodstream and cells.
Scientists are just beginning to explore the effects nanoplastic exposure might have on the human body.
In the meantime, Halden would like to see changes made in how plastics are made and used.
“Why wait until we have nailed down the last scientific fact? There are many reasons to reconsider and change the ways that we work with plastics today,” he said.
For example, Halden would like manufacturers to use less toxic and less environmentally destructive alternatives to the fossil fuels that most plastics are currently made from.
He’d also like manufacturers to develop and use plastics that have a shorter life span, so they don’t persist for millennia in our environments.
Government policymakers have an important role to play in regulating the industry and promoting these changes, but Halden says consumers can also help.
“It’s up to the consumer to indicate and signal that they don’t want this. They just shouldn’t buy it. They should fight for alternatives. They should ask, what is this material in my stuff? Is it safe?” he said.
“If we do that, we might create the political will to give us the next generation of plastics,” he continued, “which is urgently needed.”
Researchers are trying to understand how microplastics affect our health, including how it leads to exposure to chemicals like BPA and phthalates that can affect hormonal systems, and they also found that microplastic particles were present in every stool sample they tested in a new study. On average, they found 20 microplastic particles in every 10 grams of stool.
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