© Getty Images

Microplastics and the human body -

In an August 2024 report carried in The Guardian, it was revealed that a growing body of scientific evidence showed that microplastics are accumulating in critical human organs.

© Shutterstock

Accumulated risks -

Studies indicated that tiny shards and specks of plastic had been detected in human brains, hearts, lungs, placentas, reproductive organs, livers, kidneys, knee and elbow joints, blood vessels, and bone marrow.

© Shutterstock

Brain tissue more vulnerable -

An examination of the livers, kidneys, and brains of autopsied bodies found that all contained microplastics, with human brain tissue especially prone to plastic pollution.

© Shutterstock

Higher concentrations -

Indeed, brains exhibited higher concentrations of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) than liver or kidney samples, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

© Shutterstock

Plastic ingestion from nature to people -

While the health hazards of microplastics within the human body are not yet well known, the findings of the NIH served to highlight an earlier study that assessed plastic ingestion from nature to people.

© Shutterstock

Plastic consumption -

The study, 'No Plastic in Nature: Assessing Plastic Ingestion from Nature to People,' commissioned in 2019 by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and carried out by the University of Newcastle in Australia, found that we are consuming about 2,000 tiny pieces of plastic every week. That's approximately 21 grams a month, just over 250 grams a year.

© Shutterstock

A credit card's worth of plastic -

The study's authors crunched the numbers further and discovered that, on average, people could actually be ingesting approximately 5 grams of microplastics every week—that's the equivalent of a credit card!

© Shutterstock

How are microplastics defined? -

Microplastics are defined as plastic particles less than 5 mm (a fifth of an inch) across.

© Shutterstock

Primary and secondary microplastics -

Primary microplastics are plastics directly released into the environment in the form of small particulates (shower gel microbeads, tire abrasion, etc.), while secondary microplastics are microplastics originating from the degradation of larger plastic (e.g. degraded plastic bags).

© Shutterstock

How much are we ingesting? -

The study revealed that consumption of common food and beverages may result in a weekly ingestion of approximately 5 grams of plastic, depending on consumption habits.

© Getty Images

Highest volumes -

Of the consumables studied, the highest volume of plastic was found in water, shellfish, beer, and salt.

© Shutterstock

Water is the largest source of plastic ingestion -

An average person potentially consumes as much as 1,769 particles of plastic every week just from water (both tap and bottled water). In fact, the largest source of plastic ingestion is drinking water, with plastic found in groundwater, surface water, and tap water all over the world.

© Shutterstock

Shellfish -

You could consume up to 182 particles of plastic every week from eating shellfish, for example mussels and oysters. This comes from the
fact that shellfish are eaten whole, including their digestive system, after a life in plastic-polluted seas.

© Shutterstock

Beer -

Drinking beer every week translates as potentially consuming 10 particles of plastic. Barley and hops, which are necessary in beer production, are vulnerable to plastic pollution.

© Shutterstock

Salt -

And, suggests the study, eating salt every week can mean inadvertently ingesting 11 particles of plastic. Sea salt can be considered as a vector of microplastics in the human body.

© Shutterstock

A universal problem -

The findings of the report demonstrated that the problem of plastic pollution is a universal one and directly affects people everywhere.

© Shutterstock

Global menace -

Microplastics have been found everywhere—from the deepest place on the planet, the Mariana Trench, to the top of Mount Everest.

© Shutterstock

Oceans of plastic -

According to the World Economic Forum, more than 90% of plastic is never recycled, and 8 million metric tons of plastic waste are dumped into the oceans every year.

© Getty Images

Regional variations -

In the University of Newcastle study, large regional variations were discovered, with twice as much plastic found in the US or India than in European or Indonesian water.

© Shutterstock

Dining on plastic -

Many species of fish intended for human consumption from the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea, dine on microplastics, although only one or two microplastic particles have been detected per fish.

© Shutterstock

Other routes of exposure -

Besides the consumption of food and beverages, inhalation is another potential route of exposure, where microplastics can be deposited in the respiratory system, including the lungs.

© Shutterstock

Inhalation of microplastics -

Typically, synthetic textiles account for 35% of microplastics inhalation, car tires 28%, city dust 24%, road markings 7%, and marine coatings 3.7%.

© Shutterstock

Where microplastics are released -

Laundry and dishwasher pods, personal care products, plastic pellets, wet wipes, tea bags, cigarette butts, and household plastic waste account for the remaining 2.3%.

© Shutterstock

Toxic combination -

Plastics are made from a complex combination of chemicals, including additives that give them strength and flexibility. Both plastics and chemical additives can be toxic.

© Shutterstock

Concerns -

Analysis by the American Chemical Society has identified more than 10,000 unique chemicals used in plastics, of which more than 2,400 are of potential concern. Furthermore, this figure includes 901 chemicals that are not approved for use in food packaging in some jurisdictions.

© Shutterstock

Implications of ingestion -

But it's the implications of plastic ingestion by humans that is currently presenting a key challenge to scientists.

© Shutterstock

Isolating the effects -

The overwhelming presence of plastic in our daily life is making it extremely difficult to isolate the effect of a specific exposure pathway from other
possible causes of exposure, points out the WWF.

© Shutterstock

Bad air -

For now, studies have shown that beyond a certain exposure level, inhalation of microplastics seem to produce mild inflammation of the respiratory tract.

© Shutterstock

Deadly to marine animals -

For marine life, however, the outcome is very different. Higher concentrations of microplastics in their digestive and respiratory system can lead to early death.

© Shutterstock

Preventative measures -

Perhaps the best course of action may be to prevent plastics from entering the environment in the first place, urge scientists. That is something we could all take credit for.

Sources: (The Guardian) (CNN) (ResearchGate) (ScienceDirect) (World Economic Forum) (World Wildlife Fund) (NIH) (American Chemical Society) 

See also: Easy ways to reduce your plastic use

© Shutterstock